Revenue recently announced a number of measures to combat the effect of the COVID-19 crisis on businesses in Ireland. One such measure includes speeding up payment of the research and development (R&D) credit which could free up thousands of euro for businesses struggling during the crisis.
Based on normal rules, Revenue is only required to pay any cash refund after the date by which a company’s corporation tax return must be filed. Where a company’s year-end is December, the cash refund would not be repayable to the company before 23 September – the date by which a company’s corporation tax return must be filed.
For example:
Company X tax return for year end 31 December 2019 is due to be filed on or before 23 September 2020. The company files the return early in April 2020 with an excess R&D refund due of €199,750 – made up of R&D credits from the last three years (the 3rd installment that was due from 2017, the 2nd installment due from 2018 and the 1st installment from 2019). Following the introduction of the new measures, Revenue will now process the refund due of €199,750 immediately following filing, subject to Revenue checks, instead of waiting until after 23 September 2020.
FY 31 Dec 2019 | FY 31 Dec 2018 | FY 31 Dec 2017 | |
R&D Credit Claim | €250,000 | €200,000 | €150,000 |
1st installment due | €82,500 | €66,000 | €49,500 |
2nd installment due | €82,750 | €67,000 | €50,250 |
3rd installment due | €82,750 | €67,000 | €50,250 |
Total 2020 Payment | €199,750 |
This measure should assist businesses with vital cash flow during these uncertain times.
Where R&D refunds are outstanding for previous periods, this could also be an opportunity to engage with Revenue to expedite these refunds too given the current economic climate.
In order to accelerate the repayments of any 2020 R&D tax credit installments, the company must:
To ensure timely processing of requests, they should be tagged appropriately within MyEnquiries:
Crowe can assist you in accelerating claiming these valuable cash refunds. Contact a member of the tax team today for further information.