R&D Tax Concession Program in the Australian Government

In industrialised countries, innovation is a key source of economic growth. Research is a key driver of technological innovation and involves the process of systematic investigation and/or experimentation to discover new knowledge. The Governments' industry innovation policy supports a business focus on Research and Development (R&D) through a range of programs in order to achieve these aims. The Innovation Statement (DISR 2000, 20010, launched by the Australian Prime Minister in January 2001, commits an additional $3 billion overfive years to encourage and support innovation. The Australian Government aims to build world competitive firms and strong research capability in industry to strengthen Australia's international competitiveness and increase national prosperity. It develops policies and programs to enhance investment in innovation. The Australian Government has established a number of R&D funding support programs aimed at increasing the level of R&D in Australia. The backbone of these programs is the tax concession program, which is made up of the 125 per cent R&D tax concession, the 175 per cent premium tax concession and the tax offset. Over 4000 businesses take advantage of the tax concession scheme, which costs the government around $400-million a year. This cost is expected to rise to over half a billion by 2005-06 (Commonwealth of Australia, 2003). Ensuring these resources are invested where they provide significant national economic benefits is a major policy issue. In this sense, this paper looks at the appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of the R&D tax concession with costs and benefits analysis.