The fundamental change is that an R&D project no longer has to be approved before the actual work commences. If a company wants to deduct the costs of an R&D project, it must:
The change responds to a practical problem where companies did not have enough information before starting work and therefore were completed retroactively. The decisive factor for cost deduction will be the “dispatch date”. The project documentation itself can be processed up to the deadline for filing a tax return, when the project can be processed in more detail and more accurately.
It will be possible to make changes and additions to the project documentation, but it will not be possible to change the project name and goals.
One thing that has not changed is the formal criteria. In addition to a minor change, the project must contain all the required data. On the contrary, it is emphasised that both the notification and the project documentation must be processed separately for each project.
In recent years, tax administrators mostly zero in on R&D due to formal errors. Here the amendment does not change the rules. So let us not be lulled to sleep, but rather continue to observe all legal documentation requirements.