KRS Kancelaria
R+D / IP BOX relief
IP Box is preferential taxation of income obtained from the sale of products or services produced on the basis of intellectual property rights. The above solution is aimed in particular at increasing the attractiveness of conducting research and development activities in Poland. Moreover, it is intended to encourage entrepreneurs to look for business potential in intellectual property rights.
What is IP (Intellectual property) Box?
The IP Box relief is addressed to taxpayers conducting activities that qualify as research and development activities, generating income from qualified IP, i.e. IP covered by a patent or other protective right.
To benefit from the preferential 5% tax rate, it is enough for the taxpayer to be a co-owner or a user with the rights to use the IP under a license agreement. Therefore, the legislator does not require that the entity benefiting from the preferences be the owner of these rights.
The right to tax the income obtained from qualified IP at a 5% tax rate does not depend on the size of the entity or the form of its research and development activities. Research and development work does not have to be carried out by the taxpayer in its own research and development centers. It is enough to conduct development activities on the scale of the taxpayer’s enterprise.
- IP Box means preferential taxation
- Analysis of the business activity in terms of work giving the right to use the R&D relief
Rights covered by the IP BOX relief:
Qualified IP is an intellectual property right that meets a total of three conditions:
- was produced, developed or improved by the taxpayer as part of his research and development activities
- belongs to one of the categories listed in the Act, i.e. in particular patents, industrial designs, utility models, as well as copyright to a computer program;
- is subject to legal protection under the provisions of separate acts or ratified international agreements to which the Republic of Poland is a party, and other international agreements to which the European Union is a party.
Qualified IP must be created, developed or improved as part of the taxpayer’s research and development activities.
Income subject to taxation at a preferential rate of 5%
Income (loss) from a qualified intellectual property right is the income obtained:
- from fees or charges arising from a license agreement that relates to a qualified intellectual property right;
- from the sale of qualified intellectual property rights;
- from a qualified intellectual property right included in the sales price of a product or service;
- from compensation for infringement of rights arising from a qualified intellectual property right, if obtained in dispute proceedings, including court proceedings or arbitration.
Conditions for applying the relief
Obtaining relief is subject to regulations. The most important requirements that must be met include:
- carrying out research and development activities;
- creation of qualified IP (qualified intellectual property right) as part of research and development activities;
- keeping separate records of economic events covering all financial operations related to income from qualified IP;
- achieving income from qualified IP, taxable in Poland;
- incurring eligible costs in connection with the creation, development or improvement of eligible IP.
The amount of income from qualified IP is determined as the product of: income from qualified IP achieved in the tax year and the nexus index calculated according to a special formula.
Therefore, for the purposes of calculating the tax base subject to preferential taxation at a rate of 5%, the taxpayer is obliged to calculate two basic values:
- income from qualified IP earned in the tax year and
- the indicator by which the above income will be multiplied
It was assumed that income from qualified IP may be taxed on preferential terms to the extent that qualified IP generates income as a result of research and development work conducted by the taxpayer. In other words, the use of IP Box preferences is possible if there is a relationship between the income qualifying for the preferences and the costs actually incurred to obtain it..
Combination of IP Box and R&D
From 1 January 2022 a taxpayer who commercializes the results of research and development works and generates qualified income from them (within the meaning of the provisions on the IP Box) and incurs eligible costs in connection with the conducted R&D activities will be able to apply both reliefs simultaneously – the so-called discount for simultaneous IP Box. Currently, when determining income from qualified IP Box, the taxpayer has the right to deduct eligible costs incurred for R&D activities that led to the creation, development or improvement of qualified IP Box income. Before this period, it was also possible to apply both reliefs. It is necessary to separate activities and costs incurred for individual projects within IP Box and R&D.
Settlement of the IP Box relief
Preferential taxation of income from intellectual property rights is generally possible after the end of the tax year by submitting a tax return with a PIT/IP or CIT/IP attachment. During the year, taxpayers are obliged to apply general taxation principles and pay income tax advances on an ongoing basis in accordance with general principles. In turn, in the annual tax return, when calculating the tax payable, a preferential rate of 5% is used. Then, the difference between the advance payments paid during the year and the calculated tax to be paid is treated as a tax overpayment.
The Kancelaria’s assistance in obtaining IP BOX relief:
The Kancelaria offers:
- analysis of the business activity in terms of the application or implementation of the relief, in particular the separation of projects qualifying as development and/or research work and obtaining the required legal protection for the effects of these works;
- assistance in developing the records required for the settlement of the relief;
- assistance in settling the relief in tax returns;
- representation in the event of a possible inspection by tax authorities or verification activities related to the verification of the right to use the IP BOX relief.
Relief for research and development activities
Research and development activity should be understood as creative activity including scientific research or development work, undertaken in a systematic way in order to increase knowledge resources and use knowledge resources to create new applications. In practice, any enterprise that improves its technologies (including production technologies), products, services or creates new ones from scratch may meet the conditions for conducting R&D activities qualifying for relief.
Who is entitled to benefit from the relief?
It is important that various entrepreneurs can benefit from the R&D relief, regardless of the size of their company and its industry. The condition for obtaining the relief is to run a development-oriented business. It is not necessary to conduct scientific research, cooperate with scientific centers or have the status of a research and development center. Development activities are enough, but they do not necessarily have to be successful. The result of the work and research is not decisive. An interesting, although practical, fact is that the costs of projects started earlier can also be deducted.
Those who are entitled to the relief are primarily those who conduct research and development activities in Poland. Their activities should be related to conducting scientific research and development work, not one-off, but systematically conducted. The aim of such activities should be to discover new technologies, expand knowledge and find new applications for various fields, inventions and production technologies. It is clear that the development of a company is beneficial because it brings not only profits, but also tax relief.
R&D relief mechanism
Taxpayers using the R&D relief deduct costs that were included in tax-deductible costs and were related to research and development activities, i.e. eligible costs, from the tax base. The amount of the deduction limit depends on the type of enterprise and the type of eligible costs and is:
100% – for every entrepreneur who is not a Research and Development Center;
150% – Research and Development Center (but 100% of eligible costs for obtaining and maintaining a patent).
The Research and Development Center is a scientific unit, which is not a research institute, conducting research. Enterprises that have obtained the CBR status from the minister responsible for economy provide technical and scientific support for specific industries and specializations, such as pharmacy, medicine, energy, production of mining machines or the IT and engineering sector. The common denominator of these companies is research and development activities.
KRS Kancelaria – Relief for research and development activities
What are the eligible costs?
The above-mentioned eligible costs are deductible under the research and development relief. It sounds mysterious, but they cover expenses incurred as part of the activity for the purposes of research development. These include the following expenses:
- remuneration for outwork,
- remuneration in connection with ongoing employment contracts for employees working on development and research,
- ZUS contributions related to remuneration for work, at least in the part that the employer is obliged to finance,
- expenses related to the purchase of raw materials and materials needed for research or development activities,
- expenses related to the use of scientific and research equipment,
- expenses related to the use of consulting services, commissioning opinions and necessary expert opinions carried out for the purposes of research conducted by the company,
- depreciation write-offs.
Benefits from research and development activities
The benefit of conducting R&D work is the possibility of taking advantage of a tax relief, i.e. recovering up to 19% of expenses incurred on research and development activities. This applies especially to employee salaries and material costs. Moreover, these are expenses that are incurred in the company anyway – which only increases the value of taking advantage of such tax deductions.
We offer:
- analysis of the business activity in terms of work giving the right to benefit from the R&D relief;
- support in adapting the accounting records of R&D expenses for the purposes of the R&D relief;
- review and adaptation of existing internal documentation, i.e. contracts with employees, regulations or working time records to the requirements of the R&D tax relief;
- securing the right to benefit from the R&D relief by applying for an individual interpretation;
- separating projects that qualify as development and/or research work;
- representation in the event of a possible inspection by tax authorities or verification activities related to the verification of the right to benefit from the R&D relief.
KRS KANCELARIA implements the R&D program through:
- analysis of the business activity in terms of work giving the right to benefit from the R&D relief
support in adapting the accounting records of R&D expenses for the purposes of the R&D relief; - review and adaptation of existing internal documentation, i.e. contracts with employees, regulations or working time records to the requirements of the R&D tax relief;
- securing the right to benefit from the R&D relief by applying for an individual interpretation;
- separating projects that qualify as development and/or research work;
- representation in the event of a possible inspection by tax authorities or verification activities related to the verification of the right to benefit from the R&D relief.
Contact
We are here for you
KRS Kancelaria P. Kaźmierczak-Kapuścińska T. Wojdal
Spółka Komandytowo-Akcyjna
Targowa 35
90-043 Łódź
Poland
NIP: 7282822448
KRS: 0000958885
+48 42 207 66 66
+48 509 477 304
+48 504 713 145
kancelaria@krs-adwokaci.pl
Monday - Thursday: 9:00-18:30
Friday: 9:00-17:00
Saturday and Sunday: closed