Summary

Amends the: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Act 2015 to: permanently increase the research and development (R&D) expenditure threshold from $100 million to $150 million; link the R&D tax offset for refundable R&D tax offset claimants to their corporate tax rates plus a 13.5 percentage point premium; cap the refundability of the R&D tax offset at $4 million per annum; and increase the targeting of the R&D tax incentive to larger R&D entities with high levels of R&D intensity; Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to extend the concept of tax benefits in the general anti-avoidance rule in Part IVA of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 to include the R&D tax offset; Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, Income Tax Rates Act 1986 and Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 to: remake and consolidate provisions relating to clawback of R&D recoupments and feedstock adjustments; introduce a new uniform clawback rule that applies for recoupments, feedstock adjustments and balancing adjustment amounts included in an R&D entity's assessable income; and introduce a new catch-up rule for R&D assets; Taxation Administration Act 1953 to require the Commissioner of Taxation to publish information about relevant activities of R&D entities claiming the R&D tax offset following a two-year delay; Industry Research and Development Act 1986 (IR&D Act) to: provide for the Board of Innovation and Science Australia (ISA) to make a determination, by notifiable instrument, about how it will exercise its powers and perform its functions and duties; and expand the existing power of the Board of ISA and its committees to delegate some or all of their functions to include certain members of the Australian Public Service; and Industry Research and Development Decision-making Principles 2011 to provide that extensions of time granted under the IR&D Act may relate to certain applications.