The department of science and innovation has eliminated the backlog of applications from companies seeking tax breaks for doing research and development , but the take-up remains modest, parliament heard on Wednesday.
The programme was launched in 2006, aimed at encouraging companies to invest more in R&D activities to generate innovative products and services, and attract and retain skills. The scheme was switched from a retrospective application to a pre-approval process in October 2012, triggering a sharp increase in the workload facing the officials tasked with assessing applications, the department’s Godfrey Mashamba told parliament’s portfolio committee on higher education, science and technology.
The total tax revenue foregone by the fiscus as a result of the incentive scheme stood at R5.2bn, he said.