A. Deduction for Research and Development activities (art. 35.1 LIS)

Subject

Section 1.a) of article 35 of the LIS considers the following activities as research and development which gives the right to practice this deduction:

• The planned original inquiry that seeks to discover new knowledge and a better understanding in the scientific and technological field, and development to the application of the results of the research or any other type of scientific knowledge for the manufacture of new materials or products or for the design of new production processes or systems, as well as for the substantial technological improvement of pre-existing materials, products, processes or systems.
• The materialisation of new products or processes in a plan, outline or design, as well as the creation of a first non-marketable prototype and initial demonstration projects or pilot projects, as long as these cannot be converted or used for industrial applications or for their commercial exploitation.
• The design and creation of a collection of samples in order to launch new products. For these purposes, the launch of a new product will be understood as its introduction into the market and a new product will be understood as one whose novelty is essential and not merely formal or accidental.
• The creation, combination and configuration of advanced software, using new theorems and algorithms or operating systems, languages, interfaces and applications aimed at elaborating products, processes or new or substantially improved services. Software designed to facilitate access to information society services for people with disabilities fall under this concept when they are carried out not for profit. Standard or routine activities related to software maintenance and minor updates are not included.

Deduction base

The base of the deduction will consist in the amount of the research and development expenses and, where relevant, by investments in tangible and intangible fixed assets, excluding buildings and land.

Research and development expenses are considered to be those carried out by the taxpayer, including the depreciation of assets assigned to the aforementioned activities, insofar as they are directly related to said activities and are applied effectively in their elaboration, and are itemised specifically by product.

The base of the deduction will be reduced by the amount of the subsidies received to promote said activities, and are taxed as income during the tax period.

The research and development expenses that form the basis of the deduction must correspond to activities carried out in Spain or in any Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area.

Amounts paid for the performance of such activities in Spain or in any Member State of the European Union or the European Economic Area, on behalf of the taxpayer, individually or in collaboration with other entities, will also be considered research and development expenses.

The investments will be understood to have been made when the capital assets are put into operating condition.

Deduction percentages

The deduction percentages are:

• As a general rule 25 percent of the expenses incurred in the tax period for this concept.

  However, if the expenses incurred in carrying out research and development activities in the tax period are greater than the average of those incurred in the previous 2 years, the 25% will be applied up to said average, and the will be applied to the excess over this average.

  In addition, an additional deduction of 17 percent of the amount of the entity's personnel expenses corresponding to qualified researchers assigned exclusively to research and development activities may be made.

• 8 percent of investments in tangible and intangible fixed assets, excluding buildings and land, provided that they are exclusively used for research and development activities.

Likewise, it is required that the elements in which the investment is materialized must remain in the taxpayer's assets, except for justified losses, until they fulfill their specific purpose in research and development activities, except that their useful life according to the amortization method, admitted in letter a) of article 12.1 of the LIS , which is applied, is less.

In short: