So you’ve gotten your system running with a new piece of software – whether it’s to help run part of your machinery, or whether it’s to help run one of your processes more efficiently – and you want to include it in your SR&ED claim. Question is, is it eligible?
That all depends on the situation and how you got the software.
Did you buy it from the store and install it without any major difficulties? If so, it isn’t eligible for the SR&ED program.
Did you contract out to someone to develop it for you, or did you develop it in-house? In that case, it may be eligible for the SR&ED program. This is going to depend on a few factors – whether there were any technological obstacles that were faced, who the owner of the intellectual property is, and whether the person doing the development knows the IT industry (ie – a computer software engineer).
IT is one of the hardest industries to determine your own eligibility for the SR&ED program. We encourage you to contact us to set up a meeting to see whether your IT project can be claimed for through the SR&ED program.