Part D - R&D expenditure to associates

Under the R&D tax incentive, you can only obtain an R&D tax offset for expenditure incurred to an associate when that amount is paid. If you do not pay the amount until a later income year, you can choose to do either of the following:

1. claim a deduction under the normal income tax provisions, for example, the general deduction provision, section 8-1 of the ITAA 1997, for the income year in which the amount was incurred.
2. claim a notional R&D deduction in the year you make the payment.

This choice must be made by the time R&D entity lodges its income tax return for the most recent income year before the income year in which the payment is made.

If you claim a deduction for this expenditure under the first choice you will no longer be entitled to claim a notional R&D deduction in the year you make the payment. This cannot be reversed, for example, you cannot later request an amendment of the assessment to disallow the deduction you previously claimed. In addition to claiming this amount as a deduction in the Company Tax Return 2012, you will also need to record this expenditure that you have claimed under other income tax provisions in Part D, Item 2.

If you wish to claim the expenditure under the second choice, you will need to record an amount of R&D expenditure incurred to associates to be carried forward in Part D item 4. Also, if you have included the amount of R&D expenditure incurred to associates to be carried forward in item 6 'Calculation of total profit or loss' of the Company tax return 2012, you will need to add this amount back at item 7, label W 'Non deductible expenses' to ensure you do not also claim this amount as a deduction under the normal income tax provisions.

Item 1 Current year R&D expenditure incurred to associates

Write at label E1 'Current year R&D expenditure incurred to associates' the total amount of R&D expenditure you have incurred to your associates, including amounts that have not yet been paid.

Item 2 Current year R&D expenditure incurred to associates claimed under other provisions

Write at label E2 'Current year R&D expenditure incurred to associates claimed under other provisions' the total amount of R&D expenditure you have incurred to your associates, but claimed under other provisions of the ITAA 1936 or ITAA 1997 because the amount was not paid in the 2011-12 income year.

If you choose to claim your associate expenditure under another provision of the ITAA 1936 or ITAA 1997, you need to ensure that you do not add this expenditure back at label D 'Preliminary calculation' on the Research and development tax incentive schedule or label D 'Accounting expenditure in item 6 subject to R&D tax incentive' item 7 on the Company tax return. Expenditure to your associate claimed under another provision of the ITAA 1936 or ITAA 1997 should be treated the same as other expenditure claimed under that provision within the Company tax return.

Item 3 R&D expenditure paid to associates in the current year

Write at label E3 'R&D expenditure paid to associates in the current year' the total amount of R&D expenditure you have incurred and paid to your associates in the 2011-12 income year. The amount at E3 should be equal to the amount you have shown at Part A item 6 'R&D expenditure - Paid to associates in the current year'.

Item 4 R&D expenditure incurred to associates to be carried forward

If you have incurred expenditure to an associate during the 2011-12 income year and not:

• paid the amount, or
• claimed it under another provision of the ITAA 1936 or ITAA 1997

you will be entitled to carry the amount forward and claim it as a notional R&D deduction in the year you make the payment to your associate.

Calculate the amount to be shown at label E 'R&D expenditure incurred to associates to be carried forward' using Worksheet 1 below:

Worksheet 1
Current year R&D expenditure incurred	E1	$
Less amount claimed under other provisions	E2	$
Less amount paid and claimed in current year	E3	$
E1 - E2 - E3 = E Expenditure to associates to be carried forward	E	$

Write the result from E on Worksheet 1 above at Part D item 4 label E 'R&D expenditure incurred to associates to be carried forward'.

If you have already included this expenditure to associates to be carried forward in item 6 'Calculation of total profit or loss' of the Company tax return 2012, transfer the amount at label E to the Company tax return 2012, item 7 label W 'Non deductible expenses'.