Government Urged to Consider Temporary Changes to R&D Payments

The Government is under pressure to bring in temporary measures for small businesses relying on R&D payments, who could go out of business before they receive the full refund.

Suggestions have included immediately issuing a full refund after the application’s approval rather than the current method of providing three separate installments over the year. Other ideas include making the credit available to companies who have not yet begun trading and increasing the credit from 25 percent to 30 percent.

A proposal was made by Revenue this year to accelerate R&D payments in order to support businesses struggling with COVID-19. Despite this, businesses are still facing wait times of up to a year for applications to be approved. Furthermore, many businesses have been discouraged from applying due to the cost and effort required in completing the application.

Sarah-Jane Larkin from the Irish Venture Capital Association supports the idea of releasing the R&D payments as soon as possible. She stated that government payments must be processed promptly to ensure that businesses do not have to take on expensive short-term debt.

Source: The Irish Times