As a business owner or researcher at the forefront of scientific research and experimental activities, you will want to continue working under the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program standards, to ensure that you qualify for tax credits from the Federal Government. Navigating the claims process alone may not be easy, and for this, you will want the support of SR&ED consultants in Toronto to shed more light on the SR&ED Program standards and process.

A Complete Claims Process with SR&ED Consultants

The process of filing for SR&ED tax credits does not start, nor end with submitting your application; instead SR&ED consultants in Toronto adopt a 360-degree approach in preparing and filing your claim, as well as awaiting and receiving approval.

The Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) receives, reviews, and issues decisions on all claims submitted for SR&ED tax credits, and to increase your chances for approval, it’s important to be educated in the standards the Agency abides by.

The goal of the CRA is to award SR&ED tax credits in a timely, consistent, and predictable manner, and this is best met when applicants like yourself prepare claims that comply with all tax laws, eligibility requirements, policies and procedures. To ensure that you submit a solid claim, SR&ED consultants in Toronto can screen the projects you are claiming tax credits for, ensuring that these meet the Program Standards, and will yield favorable results.

SR&ED Program Service Standards

After submitting your application with the help of SR&ED consultants in Toronto, it is helpful to observe and track the review and approval process against the CRA’s service standards:

• Refundable claims take 120 days to process from the date a complete claim is received;
• Non-refundable claims take 365 days to process from the date a complete claim is received;
• Claimant-requested adjustments to refundable claims take 240 days to process from the date of receipt; and
• Claimant-requested adjustments to non-refundable claims take 365 days to process from the date of receipt.

The CRA is committed to meeting these service standards at least 90% of the time.

Testing for SR&ED Eligibility

The CRA conducts three tests to determine your eligibility for SR&ED incentives. To help ensure that you qualify based on these eligibility tests, it is best to screen your projects with SR&ED consultants before submitting your application. These are the three eligibility tests conducted by the CRA, and you can prepare for through a pre-screening with SR&ED companies:

1. Scientific or technological advancement: to qualify for incentives, you must have achieved an advancement or improvement on standard practices, or in the underlying technology used in your project.
2. Scientific or technological obstacles: the purpose for carrying out research and development initiatives must be necessitated by uncertainties or unknown solutions to problems in operations, hence, the experiments carried out.
3. Scientific or technical content: the application must contain a description of the research carried out, duly accomplished by qualified personnel.

Problems Avoided with the Help of SR&ED Consultants

Despite the Federal Government’s efforts to reward companies and researchers undertaking scientific research and experimental activities, there are times when applicants are met with delayed or unsuccessful SR&ED claims, which are outside of the CRA’s control.

These are some of the factors that cause delayed or unsuccessful SR&ED claims:

• Filing of an incomplete SR&ED claim
• Filing an SR&ED claim without the associated income tax return
• Filing the claim at the wrong tax center, or filing said claim at a tax services office
• Not responding to the CRA’s requests for information in a timely manner
• Postponement or inability to schedule meetings with the CRA
• Not responding to a proposal letter sent by the CRA in a timely manner
• Reviews of SR&ED claims from prior years impacting review of the claim for the current year
• Modification to a claim that is already under review
• Requests made by claimants for delaying review

These common delays and reasons for unsuccessful claims are best prepared for, and faced with the help of SR&ED consultants in Toronto. At CI Solutions, our consultants will not only help prepare your claim by pre-screening your eligibility through projects undertaken, but submit your claim on your behalf, walk you through the entire review process, and provide ongoing support as your claim is processed, until it is approved.

Avoid delays and unsuccessful results when processing your SR&ED claim with the expert advice and support of our SR&ED consultants in Toronto. Call us at (416) 477-5569 to speak us today, and file a stronger claim for best results.