Skattefunn: Maximum return on your investment in research and development

Does your company have an idea that requires development?

Skattefunn is a rights-based scheme that provides tax deductions for research and development costs. For companies that develop new or improved goods, services or processes, the scheme can provide important financing, better liquidity and faster progress.

Skattefunn provides a 19 percent deduction on approved costs. The cost basis is limited to NOK 25 million per year. If the company is not in a tax position, the amount is paid out in connection with the tax settlement.

Many companies miss out on support because they underestimate how strict the requirements are. Some describe a good development process, but not a good enough R&D project. Others get the project approved, but lose value because timesheets, hourly rates and project accounting requirements are not followed well enough when the auditor and the Tax Administration come to check. This is where Aider can assist both as an advisor and as an accounting firm.

Why is a professional Skattefunn application crucial?

A good Skattefunn application doesn't just describe what you're going to create. It explains what is uncertain, why this is difficult, and how you will work systematically to reduce uncertainty. This is where many applications fall down. They describe the ambition and solution, but not the R&D challenge well enough.

What characterizes a winning application in skattefunn is first and foremost that the goal is concrete and possible to verify. The novelty value is clearly explained in relation to what exists today. The R&D challenge is precisely formulated. The work packages are built around activities that actually respond to the uncertainty in the project. Good applications also clearly show the difference between R&D activities and normal operations.

Aider helps you structure your project so that your tax discovery application meets the criteria actually assessed by the Research Council. We help you to refine the R&D content, formulate clear work packages and build an application that is targeted, defined and professionally credible.

Control of documentation and project accounting requirements

For Aider, this is a main topic, not an appendix. When the application is approved, the company must meet all project accounting requirements, timesheets and auditor approval to actually receive the tax deduction. Recipients of tax credits must keep project accounts and timesheets, and be able to present these for inspection.

In practice, this means that the project accounts must be separate and traceable for the project. They must show the hours spent on R&D personnel per person, broken down by project, and other project-related costs. The hourly accounts must show the date, the number of hours per day and briefly which tasks have been performed. The Project Owner and employees working on the R&D project must sign the timesheets continuously and at least every quarter. The signing can be digital, as long as it can be verified that it has actually been done by the right person. If you claim deductions for R&D purchased from a related subcontractor for more than NOK 100,000 excluding VAT, the subcontractor must also keep project accounts in accordance with the applicable rules.

For your own employees, personnel and indirect costs are not calculated on the basis of actual costs in the accounts, but according to Skattefunn's standard rule. The hourly rate is calculated on the basis of up to 1.2 per mille of the agreed and actual annual salary at the end of the project period or income year. At the same time, the number of hours is limited to a maximum of 1,850 hours per employee per project per year, and the hourly rate is limited to a maximum of NOK 700 per hour. This means that simply recording hours is not enough. You must also have control over how the hourly rate is calculated and which wage costs can actually be included in the basis.