The Parliament has published the Law on State Aid for Research and Development Projects on July 18, 2018. This Act provides for the implementation of state aid measures for R&D projects. This Law was entered into force on the eighth day after its publication, which means on July 26, 2018, in the Official Gazette. The Minister shall issue the ordinance referred to in Article 16, paragraph 1 of this Act within 90 days from the date of entry into force of this Act.
The Beneficiary is supported by an extra deduction of the tax base for the eligible costs of R&D projects, in accordance with the income tax or income tax regulations. A 200% of eligible R&D project costs is deducted for basic research, 150% for industrial research and feasibility study, and 125% for experimental development. Deductions according to industrial research and experimental development may be further increased by 20% for small businesses and by 10% for medium enterprises under certain conditions.
The eligible R&D costs contain following expenses:
- Staff costs, which include the costs of researchers, technicians and other auxiliary staff to the extent that they are employed in the relevant project or activity.
- Depreciation of instruments and equipment in a period to the extent they are used for a project. If the instruments and equipment are not used for the project over their entire life span, eligible costs are considered, in accordance with accounting principles, only depreciation costs incurred during the duration of the project.
- Research costs incurred on the basis of contracts, knowledge and patents obtained or licensed from other parties under market conditions and the cost of advisory and similar services used solely for the project. These costs shall be eligible up to a maximum of 30% of the total eligible project costs
- Operating expenses (costs of materials, consumables and similar products) arising directly from the project
- Additional overheads shall be calculated by applying a fixed rate of 15% of the eligible direct costs of staff.
