Annex 9
Research and Development (R&D) Claim Form
Notes:
i) This Form is to be completed if you wish to claim tax deduction for qualifying R&D expenditure under Section 14D/ 14DA of
the Income Tax Act (ITA).
ii) This Form must be submitted together with Form C. If you are submitting Form C-S, please retain the completed Form and
submit it to IRAS upon request.
iii) You will need the details of the company's R&D projects to complete the Form.
iv) Please read the e-Tax Guide on "Research and Development Tax Measures" and the R&D information on IRAS website
before completing this Form.
v) Please use a separate form for each R&D project.
vi) Records of your company's R&D project must be properly maintained in the event IRAS calls for supporting documents.
Part 1 - Company Particulars
1a. Name of company
1b. Tax reference number
1c.
Year of Assessment (YA)
Part 2 - Checklist
Please make reference to the "Explanatory Notes for Completing R&D Claim Form".
Please go through the checklist below to confirm that the project undertaken by the company or outsourced or under a cost-sharing
agreement qualifies as a R&D project within the definition under the ITA. (See Note 2a)
Indicate "Yes" or "No"
2a. Is the company a R&D service provider? (See Note 2b)
2b. Is the project related to any non-qualifying activities? [See Note 2a(i) to (viii)]
2c. Is the project undertaken with the objective of:
- Acquiring new knowledge; or
- Using results from the study for the production or improvement of materials, devices, products,
produce or processes?
2d. Is the project a systematic, investigative and experimental study in the field of science or technology that
involves novelty or technical risk? (See Note 2c to 2e)
If your answer is "No" for both 2a & 2b and "Yes" for both 2c & 2d , please proceed to complete the claim form.
Otherwise, do not make the claim as the project will not qualify as a R& D project.
Part 3 - R&D Project Details
Please provide the following (if the spaces provided are insufficient, please submit the information in a separate sheet):
3a. Project name, if applicable
3b. Objective of the project, describing the situation prior to the R & D project and stating the outcome it achieves (See Note 3b)
3c. Description of the project, elaborating on the systematic, investigative and experimental study carried out (See Note 3c)
3d. Elaboration on the technical risks aspect of the project, if applicable (See Note 3d)
3e. Elaboration on the novelty aspect of the project, if applicable (See Note 3e)
55 Newton Road, Revenue House, Singapore 307987
Telephone: 1800-356 8622 Facsimile: 6351 4360 www.iras.gov.sg
Part 3 - R&D Project Details
3f. Start date of the project and the basis (See Note 3f)
3g. End date of the project and the basis (See Note 3g)
3h. Name and amount of Grant obtained if applicable (See Note 3h)
Part 4 - R&D Expenditure
Please provide the following information in a separate sheet:
Mark "X" where applicable
R&D activities conducted in-house by the company in Singapore
a. Staff costs directly involved in the R&D activity (See Note 4a)
b. Consumables used in the R&D activity (See Note 4b)
c. For other costs incurred in the R&D activity, a breakdown of the costs incurred (See Note 4c)
R&D activities outsourced, wholly or partially, by the company to a R&D organisation in Singapore
a. Amount paid to each R&D organisation in Singapore
b. Where the expenditure is reimbursed at cost, a breakdown of the R&D expenditure incurred
R&D activities outsourced, wholly or partially, by the company to a R&D organisation outside Singapore
a. Amount paid to each R&D organisation outside Singapore
b. Where the expenditure is reimbursed at cost, a breakdown of the R&D expenditure incurred which is duly certified by the
overseas R&D organisation
R&D activities under a Cost-Sharing Agreement (CSA) (See Notes 4d & 4e)
a. Amount paid under CSA (excluding payment for buy-in)
b. How the R&D costs are shared amongst the parties to the CSA
c. Whether the costs shared commensurate with the benefits accruing/ to be accrued to the company vis-à-vis the other
parties to the CSA. Please substantiate with supporting details and facts
For more details on deduction for qualifying R&D expenses, please refer to IRAS website at www.iras.gov.sg under Businesses > For
companies > Preparing tax computation > What can be deducted > Business expenses > Research & development (R&D) expenses.
Part 5 - Declaration
I declare that the information given is true and complete, and
a. where the R&D activities are outsourced, wholly or partially, to an overseas R&D organisation or undertaken under a CSA*, the R&D
expenditure incurred is related to the company's existing trade or business;
b. any benefit which may arise from the R&D activities shall accrue to the company; and
c. any intellectual property generated from the outsourced R&D or under the CSA* is owned and is/ will be* commercialised by the company.
(see Notes 5a & 5b)
Full name and signature of authorised person
(See Note 5c)
Designation
Date
Note: Under the Income Tax Act, there are penalties for failing to give a return, furnishing an incorrect return or making a false
declaration.
* Delete whichever is not applicable
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EXPLANATORY NOTES FOR COMPLETING R&D CLAIM FORM
Part 1 - Company Particulars
1 Year of
Assessment (YA)
Please use a separate form for each YA.
Part 2 - Checklist
2a. Research and
development
(R&D)
Research and development means any systematic, investigative and experimental study that
involves novelty or technical risk carried out in the field of science or technology with the object of
acquiring new knowledge or using the results of the study for the production or improvement of
materials, devices, products, produce, or processes, but does not include —
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
quality control or routine testing of materials, devices or products;
research in the social sciences or the humanities;
routine data collection;
efficiency surveys or management studies;
market research or sales promotion;
routine modifications or changes to materials, devices, products, processes or production
methods;
(vii) cosmetic modifications or stylistic changes to materials, devices, products, processes or
(viii) development of a computer software that is not intended to be sold, rented, leased, licensed or
hired to 2 or more persons who are not related parties to each other, and to the person who
develops the software or on whose behalf the development of the software is undertaken. In the
definition of “research and development”, a person is a related party to another if he, directly or
indirectly, controls the other person, or is controlled, directly or indirectly, by the other person, or
where he and the other person, directly or indirectly, are under the control of a common person
(This condition has been removed from Year of Assessment 2012).
2b. R&D service
provider & R&D
organisation
2c. Systematic,
investigative &
experimental
study
2d. Technical risks
2e. Novelty
A R&D service provider or a R&D organisation means a body or an organisation which provides R&D
services for any trade or business*.
* For the purposes of Section 14D, any body or organisation that performs R&D as one of its activities
can be considered a R&D organisation.
The project must involve systematic, investigative and experimental study to test something that is
not known or readily deducible in the field of science or technology.
Technical risk exists when technical issues cannot be readily resolved by a competent professional in
the relevant field.
Novelty means something that is new in relation to creation or improvement of products, processes or
knowledge. For example, the product or process is the first of its kind in Singapore (excluding contentbased products such as movies, electronic versions of print media, etc).
Part 3 - R&D Project Details
3a. Project name
3b. Objective
State the name of the project, if applicable.
State the purpose of carrying out the project. The objective should cover the description of the new
knowledge to be acquired or description of the products and processes to be created or improved.
3c. Description
Describe the activities carried out which must involve systematic, investigative and experimental study
to test something that is not known or readily deducible. It should cover the following activities:
(i)
The study is conducted by suitably qualified personnel (competent professional in the related
field). A competent professional must have the accumulated experiences and technical
knowledge in the relevant field with R&D track record to conduct/ lead the R&D project);
(ii)
Work is done to discover something unknown, to test a proposed solution to a technical problem,
or to find something out (not simply to confirm something already known or demonstrate a known
fact). The technology or knowledge base or level at the start and end of the project should be
indicated.
(iii) Collation of data or results from the testing; and
(iv) Report of conclusion reached (or not reached, in the case of aborted projects)
3d. Technical risks
aspect
Describe the technical risks aspect of the project. The description must include problems or
challenges that could not be readily resolved using information or techniques available in the public
domain by a competent professional in the related field.
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Technical risks
aspect
Describe the technical risks aspect of the project. The description must include problems or
challenges that could not be readily resolved using information or techniques available in the public
domain by a competent professional in the related field.
3e. Novelty aspect
Describe the novelty aspect of the project. The description must include the innovative aspect of the
project and how the technology or knowledge features are different from those available in the
market.
3f. Start date
A study starts when the scientific or technological objective of the project has been identified, and
activities directly undertaken to address the scientific or technological objective commence.
3g. End date
The study ends when one of the following occurs (whichever is the latest) (i) all activities related to testing the potential solution are completed and a conclusion reached;
(ii) when a prototype or pilot plant with all the functional characteristics of the final product or
process is successfully tested and validated; or
(iii) when the study is terminated.
3h. Grants
An example of such grants is the Research Incentive Scheme for Companies (RISC) from EDB.
The R& D expenditure stated in Part 4 should be the gross amount of expenses incurred
less the amount of grant received.
Part 4 - R&D Expenditure
4a. Staff costs
Staff costs means any salary, wages and other benefits paid or granted in respect of employment
(excluding director’s fees), whether in money or otherwise, to any employee for carrying out R&D
activities.
4b. Consumables
Consumables means any material or item used in the R&D activity which upon such use, is
consumed or transformed in such manner that it is no longer useable in its original form. The term
does not include items of expenditure such as utilities, rent and other overheads which may be
incurred directly or indirectly in connection with the R&D activity.
4c. Other costs
Other costs which may qualify for Section 14D but not Section 14DA.
4d. Cost-sharing
agreement (CSA)
CSA means any agreement or arrangement made by two or more persons to share the expenditure of
research and development activities to be carried out under the agreement or arrangement.
4e. Payment for buy-in Payment for the right to become a party to any existing cost-sharing agreement.
Part 5 - Declaration
5a. Owned and
commercialised
The term “owned” means that the company must have either the legal ownership or the beneficial
ownership to the intellectual property generated from the outsourced R&D.
Beneficial ownership generally means that the company has a right to the economic benefits
generated from the use of the intellectual property.
The term “commercialised” means that the intellectual property derived from the outsourced R&D has
been used to generate sales which includes the production of goods or services.
5b. Intellectual
property
“Intellectual property” includes the following:
s Patent
s Copyright
s Trademark
s Registered design
s Geographical indication
s Lay-out design of integrated circuit
s Trade secret or information that has commercial value
s Plant variety.
5c. Authorised person The authorised person(s) who can endorse the R&D Claim Form are the company director, principal
officer or a person authorised by the company.
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