We see it time and time again, clients selected for full technical audit, and the mad dash begins. SR&ED claimants busy running their own business, and this chaotic process is thrown in that causes utter mayhem. The claimants figures, well, CRA gets it, they know I’m running a business, they can clearly see that we are an innovative firm, this is going to be a piece of cake.
Nope.
CRA comes in, and this complicated policy debate begins, and CRA begins asking for SR&ED evidence. Then the scrambling begins. The claimant starts to look through emails, file folders, talking to team members, looking for drawings, talking to suppliers, and looking for anything that substantiates their claim. If they’re lucky, they round up a few pieces of random evidence to show to CRA.
The cycle continues, sometimes for months, we’ve seen it go as long as 2 years. And of course, this causes a serious interruption to the claimants business, and on a personal level, it’s highly frustrating.
Many times, no matter what pieces of authentic evidence is presented, CRA is not convinced, and then the claimant then goes to look for something else.
At Bond Consulting Group, we’ve been attending SR&ED audits for 10 years, since 2005, and we have witnessed the trends. CRA is looking for organized, rigorous evidence, which is consistent with the scientific method.
CRA does not understand why this is so challenging. Of course, CRA reviewers are not running businesses, and that’s part of the problem. And business owners that are advancing technology are not necessarily scientific. And thus the great impasse happens.
SR&ED claimants can now adopt the scientific method, and keep all their evidence organized by using a revolutionary new tool, SR&ED Proof. The on-line tool is easy to use, intuitive, and forces you to document your SR&ED work in a compliant manner.
Visit sredproof.ca for an introduction, and request a demo by calling Bond Consulting Group at 416 503 4607.
This article was written by Julie Bond, President of Bond Consulting Group. For more SR&ED articles, visit our Blog. To learn more about SR&ED, visit our Video Learning Centre.
