So, the excitement continues to build, SR ED tax credits are a large part of the focus on what the government of Canada should be doing to help Canadian firms with their research and development. SR&ED claims total in the billions of dollars and have come to the attention of a lot of players in the private and government sectors. It’s a pretty basic discussion, revolving around the question ‘ Is the SRED tax credit still working for government and business.
Let’s highlight some of those issues, and key info on the program, but, most importantly, lets re enforce one key point – if you have a SR&ED claim you can still financing it , all the turmoil around the program notwithstanding ! And we’ll show you how.
We hate weighing in on all those debates on the program, quite simply ours is to finance! But we guess it’s important that some of the key issues should be highlighted, and of course any major changes to the program will in fact probably affect how claims are financed.
So what the problem? Simply speaking it’s that prudent people want to ensure that the tax system and the innovation around things such as tax credits work.
A lot of the discussion seems to revolve around what happens after Canadian business owners file their SRED claim. Simply speaking, the discussion is all about ‘ commercialization ‘ of the work and funds that go into those SR&ED credit claims. Currently the actual credits are primarily only available to private companies and there seems to be some discussion about moving the program into the public company sector. That seems to make sense because it would seem some early stage companies actually don’t go public via an IPO or RTO simply because of the fact they would lose their valuable SR ED claim status, and the non repayable cash flow that come from that program.
A number of current factors make the up calculation of the total combined provincial and federal tax credit SRED claim. Under the current guidelines companies can receive up to 1/2 to 3/4 of all they spend on key documentable red.
So it’s an interesting time for the SR ED tax credit. To the many hundreds of sred consultants out there who prepare claims we can only imagine where their heads are at these days.
But as we said, the one constant of SR&ED is that you can still continue to cash flow and monetize your claim via a SRED Loan. In fact the industry has gotten more creative and many financings are now done prior to the actual filing of the claim. This concept is called accrual financing and it simply means you recoup your expenses as you spend. Now that’s a true financing benefit for firm who can use the SR ED claim cash flow to survive and grow. (And we guess hopefully commercialize their products also!)
The financing couldn’t be simpler. be prepared to document your SR&ED work through your consultant or internal team. Claims are typically financed at 70% of total value, and no payments are made during the loan outstanding period.
Consider talking to a trusted, credible and experienced Canadian business financing advisor on monetizing your tax credit for critical cash flow.