GAC Group Singapore: Innovation News

PIC SCHEME

Enhanced Tax Deductions: Compute your PIC claims for ECI

Businesses have to submit their Estimated Chargeable Income (ECI) to IRAS no later than 3 months after the end of the financial year (ie. 31th March 2016 if they follow the calendar year). The PIC Enhanced Tax Deductions claim can be included along with the submission to enjoy the associated benefits. Feel free to contact us for more details!

Cash payout: Status of application and treatment of the queries for PIC by IRAS

After the submission of a cash payout claim, businesses can call the IRAS hotline or login to the IRAS E-service system to check the status of their application (quickest and most convenient way recommended by IRAS).

For applications selected for audit by IRAS, further details and supporting documents will be requested for review. IRAS will then revert to businesses within 3 months from receiving the complete information. The processing time may take up to six months, depending on the complexity of each case.

PUBLIC FUNDING IN SINGAPORE

New services launched for international development

The Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) grant and the Double Tax Deduction (DTD) are 2 public funding managed by IE Singapore that support the overseas expansion of local SMEs.

The MRA grant is designed to accelerate the international expansion of Singapore SMEs by covering up to 70% of eligible costs. These could range from overseas market set-up, identification of business partners, and overseas market promotion.

As for the DTD, it allows companies to deduct against their taxable income, twice the qualifying expenses incurred for eligible activities when carrying out market expansion and investment for their overseas development.

GAC Group assists you to get for MRA and DTD while providing expert advice and application assistance. We provide a hassle free solution to get the additional funding your company needs to expand overseas.

New services launched for Capability Development Grant (CDG)

The Capability Development Grant (CDG) is a financial assistance program managed by SPRING Singapore. CDG supports local SMEs to upgrade their business capabilities through defraying up to 70% of qualifying costs on activities such as Technology innovation, Service excellence, Productivity improvement, IP & Franchising, HR development, Financial management, Quality & Standards, Business excellence & strategy, Brand & Marketing strategy.

Through our 14 years of experience with the public funding scene, we have the expertise to successfully assist local SMEs to get their CDG applications optimized and approved. To find out more about how this grant would benefit your company, do not hesitate to contact us!

GAC EXPERTISE

How to identify an eligible R&D project

The identification of an eligible R&D project within all the developments of a company is a challenging task. The term "R&D" is often misunderstood, as it is commonly used to refer to the technical developments in its broadest sense. However, the definition of R&D given by IRAS in its “R&D Tax Measures” is far closer to scientific research than technical development. This is inspired by the definition given by the OECD, in the Frascati Manual. This manual gives definitions for basic research, applied research, and experimental development. With a good comprehension of the definitions and a strong knowledge of the R&D activities, our team has the expertise to accurately identify your R&D projects. Our Group’s competency in both technical and financial aspects allows us to secure the claimed projects with, for example, a strong technical report, and a fully optimized associated amount.

GLOBAL NEWS AND EVENTS

Launch of TechSG

GAC Group has attended the launch of TechSG, a digital platform for Singapore's technology entrepreneurial ecosystem developed by NUS Enterprise and sponsored by IBM. It is an open and collaborative platform for the community to provide comprehensive information on key players in Singapore’s entrepreneurial ecosystem with analytical tools. The objective is to visualize and track the diversity, interdependency, growth dynamics and vibrancy of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Release of the RIE2020

The Government has announced a S$ 19 Bn budget to support Singapore’s R&D efforts over the next 5 years. This 6th roadmap represents an 18% increase compared to the precedent plan and is also the biggest in history.

The Research Innovation Enterprise 2020 plan (RIE2020) aims at supporting the transfer of research into solutions to address national challenges, to build up innovation and technology adoption among companies, and to drive economic growth through value creation.

Four primary technology sectors are emphasized to deepen the technology capabilities and competitiveness of Singapore and to raise productivity and meet national priorities:

• Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering

• Health and Biomedical Sciences

• Services and Digital Economy

• Urban Solutions and Sustainability

In the meantime, cross-cutting programmes will focus on excellent sciences, strong pipeline of manpower and value creation.

The funding will be more competitive in areas of relevance and importance for Singapore. The Government aims at encouraging collaboration of multiples stakeholders bringing together different expertise to address big issues. Thus, the Government wishes to encourage tech transfer from research to marketable solutions and public-private partnerships too.

To sum up, the Government is trying to capitalize on technologies with which the country has a competitive advantage and to build up capabilities in areas that are deemed to have great national needs.

JTC Innovation Grant Call

The JTC Innovation Grant Call has been set up to identify and provide funding for technology owners to undertake test-bed and pilot innovative solutions to promote sustainability. The areas of focus include:

• Resource Efficiency: Develop sustainable facility management solutions by reducing reliance on manpower.

• Sustainable Urban Solutions: Develop solutions that can mitigate urban challenges and cultivate green practices.

• Building Efficiency: Develop green buildings solutions by reducing water & energy consumption, allowing efficient waste treatment or harvesting green energy to reduce power consumption.

All enterprises and research institutions, both local and foreign including start-ups and incubators registered with the local authorities in their respective countries are eligible to participate.

Companies can obtain up to 500.000 SGD for qualifying costs: Manpower/Professional services, Equipment/software, and Intellectual Property.