Research and Development (R&D) Tax Incentives (8 September 2017)

The findings of multiple studies show that R&D tax incentives stimulate investment, but there is currently no coordination in this regard between EU Member States.

In the panel, Co-Chairs Georges Cavalier, Professor of Law at the University of Lyon, and Mehdy Ben Brahim, International Tax and Transfer Pricing Advisor for Questro International, and panellists Sabine Kirchmayr-Schliesselberger, Professor of Finance Law at the University of Vienna, and Jeffrey Owens, Director of the Global Tax Policy Center at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, presented the preliminary results of the R&D Tax Incentives Project. In a previously held meeting, the Members discussed the last details of this panel.

To determine if there even is a ‘uniform view on what is a R&D expense qualifying for super deduction’ as Georges Cavalier said, a questionnaire was sent out to members in twelve EU States and Switzerland. The addressees were asked about the definition of R&D, the nature of R&D costs and contracted expenditure in their respective jurisdictions. The team analysed the responses to determine how the Common Corporate Tax Base (CCTB) super deduction should be structured based on the comparison of these various tax cultures. According to the panellists the targeted output of the R&D Tax Incentives Project could be an amendment or annex to the CCTB Directive.