The Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit was developed to encourage companies to undertake research and development in Canada. But once you have submitted a claim for the tax credit, how long does it take to see the benefits of the program? The CRA has outlined their service standards for processing SR&ED claim as follows:
- Refundable claims – 120 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim
- Non-refundable claims – 365 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim
- Adjustments to refundable claims – 240 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim
- Adjustments to non-refundable claims – 365 calendar days from receipt of a complete claim
The CRA’s goal is to meet these service standards at least 90% of the time and from April 1, 2013 to June 30, 2013, the CRA’s success rate on meeting service standards was 96%, with total average of processing a claim of 108 days. Events that will lead to delays in processing the claim include:
- An incomplete claim
- Filing SR&ED claim without an associated income tax return
- Not filing a claim at appropriate tax centre
- Claimant unable to respond to CRA’s requests for information or proposal letter in a timely manner
- An inability to a schedule meeting with the CRA
- Reviews of previous year SR&ED claims that impact the review of the current year claim
- Modifications to a claim during course of a review.