Lab research is not the end all be all of SR&ED qualification. Often, when thinking of what types of work and innovations qualify for SR&ED incentives, it’s easier to connect qualifying for these R&D tax credits with lab experiments and tech-related innovations. But as SR&ED is meant to empower all industries working towards advancing all forms of technology and eradicating gray areas in the process, it’s important to note some of the lesser known sectors that qualify for a claim.
By working with a SR&ED consulting company, you can make a better connection between the work you do and qualifying for a claim, allowing your business in Edmonton a higher level of support in financing your work.
There are a number of discrete industries that qualify for an SR&ED claim. The main ones include:
- Manufacturing Engineering (ex. Transportation and equipment)
- Medical and Health Sciences (ex. Basic and clinical)
- Agricultural Sciences (ex. Animal and dairy science, biotechnology)
Manufacturing is SR&ED Qualified
If your company is in the manufacturing industry, with qualified employees that carry out a systematic, investigative approach to crafting your products, you are well on your way to qualifying for SR&ED.
Note that your business must be addressing a technological knowledge gap that can only begin to be addressed with your specialized practice. The work you perform must increase your foundation of manufacturing knowledge through discovering new information or developing improved processes. There must be a hypothesis you are either proving or disproving, otherwise the work is routine practice and may not qualify.
You’ll likely qualify for SR&ED if your manufacturing work involves the following:
- Improving a process or product
- Assembling parts that previously did not fit
- Dyeing, heat-treating, or plating products
- Changing or updating equipment
- Implementation of new jigs into production
- Changing techniques to address new regulations that limit industrial waste
The claiming of manufacturing materials falls under raw materials, meaning materials currently being used to perform research (materials for SR&ED), destroyed material (materials consumed), and changed material (material transformed). Consulting with a SR&ED company makes these claims much simpler to identify and process.
Claim SR&ED from Medical and Health Science Work
In such a broad industry with various professions, it can be difficult to narrow down which aspects of medical and health-related research qualify for a SR&ED claim. Similar to manufacturing, the key is to pinpoint systemic investigation.
One of the most difficult areas to determine SR&ED qualification can be that of practicing medical doctors. You may think you’re simply seeing patients, but if you have any side projects on the go, you have the foundation for a potential claim. If you are working to test a medical hypothesis, whether at a university, hospital, fertility clinic, rehab clinic, you may qualify for SR&ED credit.
This area particularly is where the power of SR&ED consulting would allow optimal pay off for your practice. In addition to making the process quicker, a consultant would be able to examine all of your initiatives and identify the areas of your work that are investigative. An outside specialist is always good for a fresh and organized perspective on the work you do.
Qualify for SR&ED in the Agriculture Industry
There is a theme of addressing uncertainty that we see developing here to properly define qualified SR&ED work. Some of these areas relative to agriculture are:
- New cattle breeding process
- New ways to increase the yield of food
- New ways of storing food
- Developing new farm equipment
- Modifying pest control measures
- Reducing pollution
If your production meets consumers’ needs, like developing gluten free food, increasing shelf life, or improving packaging, you can qualify for a SR&ED claim. To be certain, you can work with SR&ED consultants to identify the eligibility of your work. Additionally, as grants for research diminish, the tax credits that SR&ED provides becomes more and more useful to arrive at innovations that improve Canadians’ everyday life.