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HZXD and Innovation Australia [2010] AATA 879 (9 November 2010)
Last Updated: 10 November 2010
Administrative Appeals Tribunal
DECISION AND REASONS FOR DECISION [2010] AATA 879
ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS TRIBUNAL )
) No
2008/4199
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GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION
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Re
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Applicant
Respondent
DECISION
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Tribunal
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Mr G L McDonald, Deputy President Mr C Ermert, Member
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Date 9 November 2010
Place Melbourne
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Decision
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The Tribunal affirms the decision under
review.
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....(sgd G L McDonald).....
Deputy President
CATCHWORDS
Taxation and revenue - Tax concession - Claim for
research and development activities - What constitutes research and development,
in particular, in relation to computer software - Unable to produce evidence to
satisfy criteria- Tribunal unable to determine whether
R & D involved
innovation or high levels of technical risk – decision affirmed.
Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975, s 37
Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 (Cth), ss 73B (1), 73B (2A) and 73B
(2B)
REASONS FOR DECISION
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Mr G L McDonald, Deputy
President
Mr C Ermert, Member
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THE APPLICATION
- The
applicant, a company, is applying for the review of a decision of respondent
dated 16 July 2007, and affirmed on review, that
a biometric project developed
by it does not satisfy the definition of ”research and development
activities” (R and D)
as defined in s 73B (1) of the Income Tax
Assessment Act 1936 (Cth) (the ITA Act). The respondent is
responsible for ascertaining the eligibility of any R and D activity once the
claimant (that is,
the applicant) for the R and D tax concession has registered
the R and D activities with the respondent. The claimant can then make
a claim
for the R and D tax concession as part of its income tax
return[1].
- The
project, entitled “Development of Face Recognition Car Parking ASP
System”, is claimed by the applicant to qualify
under the Australian
government tax concession program. The claims are made for the 2003-2004,
2004-2005 and 2005-2006 years of
income.
- The
Tribunal received statements and heard sworn evidence on behalf of the applicant
from:
Mr Sofiaan Fraval (by telephone from the United States of
America), a Director of the applicant and the person who was responsible
for
undertaking the R and D within the applicant;
Mr Greg Fendis, CEO of the three propriety limited companies: Austcom Pty
Ltd, Biofilter Pty Ltd (Biofilter) and GOGlobal Pty Ltd;
Mr Sachlan Fraval, a chartered accountant and director of the applicant and
the father of Mr Sofiaan Fraval; and
Dr Hadrian Fraval, the Managing Director of Rofin Australia Pty Ltd
(Rofin), the brother of Mr Sachlan Fraval and the uncle
of Mr Sofiaan Fraval.;
- On
behalf of the respondent, the Tribunal heard from Professor PMM Wagner,
Professor of Computing, and the Director of the National
Centre for Biometric
Studies established in 2005 at Canberra University.
- Mr
Sachlan Fraval appeared for the applicant, assisted on occasions by
Dr Hadrian Fraval and Mr Fendis (the latter cross-examining
Professor
Wagner). Mr Rebikoff, of counsel, represented the respondent. At the
conclusion of the oral evidence, the applicant
was given the opportunity to
submit further questions in writing to Professor Wagner to answer. Difficulties
ensued with respect
to the relevance of the questions, which the applicant
reformulated into seven questions and resubmitted with the copy of a patent
application. Professor Wagner provided a further report in answer to the
questions on the 16 July 2010. Subsequently, the parties
provided, and
exchanged, written submissions, and the respondent also provided the “T
Documents” pursuant to s 37 of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal
Act 1975.
THE LEGISLATION
- The
ITA Act provides tax deductions for eligible companies which undertake research
and development activities. Section 73B (1) of
the ITA Act defines
”research and development activities” in two interrelated parts.
If a project is found to involve
systematic, investigative and
experimental activities, then consideration is to be given to other activities
carried on for a purpose
directly related to them. Section 73B(1) of the
ITA Act provides,
(a) systematic, investigative and experimental
activities that involve innovation or high levels of technical risk and are
carried
on for the purpose of:
(i) acquiring new knowledge (whether or not that knowledge will have a
specific practical application); or
(ii) creating new or improved materials, products, devices, processes or
services; or
(b) other activities that are
carried on for a purpose directly related to the carrying on of activities of
the kind referred to in
paragraph (a).
- Section
73B (2B) of ITA Act excludes certain activities from constituting
”research and development activities”. It
provides:
[f]or the purposes of the definition of research and
development activities in subsection (1):
(a) activities are not taken to involve innovation unless they involve an
appreciable element of novelty; and
(b) activities are not taken to involve high levels of technical risk
unless:
(i) the probability of obtaining the technical or scientific outcome of the
activities cannot be known or determined in advance on
the basis of current
knowledge or experience; and
(ii) the uncertainty of obtaining the outcome can be removed only through a
program of systematic, investigative and experimental
activities in which
scientific method has been applied, in a systematic progression of work (based
on principles of physical, biological,
chemical, medical, engineering or
computer sciences) from hypothesis to experiment, observation and evaluation,
followed by logical
conclusions.
- Since
this review involves the development of computer software, s 73B (2A) of the ITA
Act is also relevant. It provides that:
activities carried on by
or on behalf of an eligible company by way of the development of computer
software shall not be taken to
be systematic, investigative and experimental
activities unless the computer software is developed for the purpose, or for
purposes
that include the purpose, of sale, rent, licence, hire or lease to 2 or
more non-associates of the company (counting a non-associate
of the company and
the associates of such a non-associate together as one person). [“Multiple
Sale Criterion”].
BACKGROUND
- The
aim of the applicant’s R and D plan, dated 1 July 2007, was the
development of a replacement for the current carparking
methodology for
identifying customers wishing to access carparks. A biometric system was
envisaged, which utilised either a camera
or a fingerprint scanner to recognise
the customer upon ingress and also to calculate the amount owing on egress.
This would eliminate
the need for a carparking customer to retain and use a card
or token. It was also anticipated that a peripheral device, which integrated
the proposed identity recognition with optical character recognition of
registration plate letters and figures, could provide additional
security[2].
- On
behalf of the applicant, there have been at least three plans prepared, which
are said to constitute the core development
activity[3] It is that
one set out in the witness statement of Mr Sachlan Fraval and prepared for this
hearing, which is the most relevant.
It reads as
follows:
Segment A 1. CAR
PARKING APPLICATION
2. CAR PARKING EQUIPMENT
2.1 CDS
2.2 Other
3. CUSTOMER DATA
3.1 Registration
3.2 Authentication
4. PHYSICAL PARAMETERS
4.1 Physical Devices
4.2 Environment
4.3 Other
5. DATA
5.1 Collection
5.2 Storage
5.3 Usage
6. BIOMETRICS
6.1 Algorithm
6.1.1 Fingerprint
6.1.1.1 Rofin
6.1.2 Iris
6.1.3 FACE
6.1.3.1 Biofilter
6.2 Application Integration
Segment B
7. NON-ATTENDANCE / REMOTE DECISION
MAKING
8. ARTIFICAL INTELLIGENCE
Segment C 9.
BUSINESS RULES
10. ALGORITHM
- It
is claimed that activities 7–10 are the core activities claimed for the
purposes of s 73B(1)(a) of ITA Act, and that
numbers 1-5 are the directly
related activities. Mr Sachlan Fraval told the Tribunal that no claim is made
for activity 6. This
was emphasised in a subsequent submission under the
heading, “Explanation of Algorithm Development”, conveyed from the
applicant to the respondent under cover of a letter dated 19 August 2010. It
was claimed that the applicant had entered into a joint
agreement with a company
called Biofilter to apply facial recognition technology to carparking
applications[4].
Biofilter was a company established in approximately 2000 by
Rofin[5].
- The
first thing to determine is the activities in which the applicant was engaged.
The usual way in which activities are determined
is by reference to records.
Usually, records will be in a documentary, or computer generated time sequenced,
form and consist of
R and D plans, outcomes of test results, revision control
records, minutes of meetings at which development of the project was discussed,
invoices for costs incurred and the like. A starting point is to examine the
application forms for registration of R and D activities.
The first claim form,
dated 20 September 2004, nominated the title for the project as,
“Facial Recognition ASP System
for Car Parks”, and it lists the
following as the activities undertaken in the 2003-2004
year:
[a]cquired licence to use facial recognition and
infrastructure technology to integrate facial recognition into an ASP system to
control
at an account level or at a cash or credit card securely the customers
entering a pay car park at the boom
gates[6].
- The
2003-2004 plan nominated the development of a biometric system using a
development toolkit provided by
Biometriq[7].
The plan described Biometriq as a specialist biometric
company[8], and
the evidence established it as being located in Hong
Kong[9]. It was
proposed to replace the then current usage of carpark customer recognition
utilising a card or token by a system using photographic
or fingerprint scanner
recognition[10].
It appears from the oral evidence that voice recognition was also considered,
but it was rejected early in the process. Utilisation
of a biometric
methodology (or a combination of biometric methodologies) was aimed at
establishing the personal identification of
the user. The plan also stated that
Rofin was to provide ”biometric
expertise”[11].
- In
a letter dated 7 March 2004, the respondent posed a number of questions to the
applicant.[12]
Answers were sent in a response, dated 19 July
2005[13].
While it is evident that no final decision had been made about the form of the
biometric application to be used, iris and fingerprint
technology had been
rejected. In respect of ”innovation or high levels of technical
risk”, appears the comment:
[v]ery high level of technical
risk was incurred in the project, evidence of which was inability to integrate
successfully the iris
and fingerprint technologies which cost a
significant amount in the development process to date, and will not be used in
the
final
product[14].
- There
were two facets of the work to be undertaken. One involved the identification
of the most appropriate biometric medium to be
used in identity recognition,
whether face, voice, iris or fingerprint. The other facet was the hooking (or
connection) of the information
to the software used in a carpark environment,
for example, to operate the boom gates and to calculate of the time spent and/or
money
to be paid on exit.
- The
R and D was claimed to be carried out by Mr Sofiaan Fraval, a director of the
applicant. He holds a Bachelor of Digital Systems
from Monash University, and
his occupation is an embedded systems engineer. In his evidence to the
Tribunal, Mr Sofiaan Fraval said
that he was the main R and D technologist for
the project[15]. He
said that the time he spent working on the project, the subject of this
application, was about 40 hours a week. Mr Sofiaan
Fraval agreed with Mr
Rebikoff that, in a simplified form, once the biometric medium had been
selected, there were three basic elements
to the project. They are as follows:
(a) identifying existing biometric facial recognition software; (b) car parking
system purchased
being hardware (boomgates) and some control software from CDS
Worldwide Pty Ltd (CDS), which Mr Sofiaan Fraval described as being
widely used
in carparks;[16] and
(c) online billing and payment
system[17]. The aim
of the project was to develop software which would link these three
elements.
- After
considering the fingerprint, voice, iris and facial recognition options, the
last one was chosen as the best method of authenticating
carpark users. Mr
Fendis explained that the utilisation of fingerprint evidence was rejected,
because, at least in the mind of the
public, it was associated with criminal
procedures. He also said that in any event, a fingerprint provided only 17
points of identification,
whereas facial imaging returned 4000 identification
points.[18]
- Mr
Sofiaan Fraval told the Tribunal that there was no record available of the work
carried out. Sometime in early 2006, the hard
drive on his computer, on which
the records were retained, had been damaged, and he had been unable to afford to
retrieve the information.
No back up of the computerised information was in
place,[19] including
the revision control system which identified changes made to systems after
conducting trial and error
tests[20].
- Mr
Sofiann Fraval agreed that it was a negligent omission on his part not to have
backup procedures[21].
There were no time sheets
maintained[22]. Note
pad entries were unable to be produced as he had either lost or destroyed
them[23]. It is not,
apparently, the case that the information contained on the hard drive has been
irretrievably lost. Mr Sofiaan Fraval
said that without the guarantee of
succeeding in the R and D claim made for $1.36 million in this review, it would
not be worth expending
up to $5,000 to enable the information to be
retrieved[24]. The
absence of any records presents difficulties for the determination of this
application, including as to when the project commenced
- Mr Sofiaan Fraval
found difficulty in recalling when the project proceeded from mere discussion to
a commencement
phase[25].
- In
his first report, Professor Wagner commented that “[t]o lose one’s
life’s work, as this appears to have been,
without any backup would be
inexcusable for an ordinary person – for a qualified computer engineer
such gross negligence is
all but
incomprehensible”[26].
The Professor told the Tribunal that it could be expected, when conducting work
of this kind, that there would be backup undertaken
at least once a
week[27]. That this
was not done he found to be
”astounding”[28].
- Unfortunately,
when cross-examined, Mr Sofiaan Fraval was unable to provide particularisation
of any testing carried out as the project
advanced due to the lack of
contemporaneous
records[29]. This
presents a major problem as, according to Mr Fendis’ evidence, the
applicant’s
software development was based on an iterative
and outcome based process. We wanted a predictable schedule and outcome that
could
be used as a fundamental starting point for other software developers with
lower
skills[30].
- The
Tribunal finds it difficult to comprehend how that could be achieved without the
development of conjunctional testing criteria.
The evidence of Mr Sofiaan
Fraval on this issue was vague to the point that he said he could not recall
what was on the testing
checklist. He stated that testing consisted of listing
“the positives and
negatives”[31].
At another point, he told the Tribunal that the development of a biometric
algorithm designed to permit identification of a person’s
image was
investigated, but it proved to be
unsuccessful[32]. To
the extent that his work on the project involved this aspect, the Tribunal has
discounted it as Mr Sachlan Fraval opened
by saying that it did not form
part of the claim in this application. The problem is that the Tribunal
is unable to assess
what time Mr Sofiaan Fraval worked on this aspect and,
if so, to what extent, if any, it formed part of the claim.
- It
was Mr Sofiaan Fraval’s evidence, in his statement, that he worked
fulltime on the applicant’s
project[33]. However,
to the Tribunal, he said that he was engaged by CDS and worked on the
applicant’s project in his spare time and
on weekends, estimating that he
spent 40 hours a week on the
project[34]. Mr
Sofiaan Fravel told the Tribunal that he was engaged as a contractor to CDS,
where he worked developing car locking and security
patrolling devices. The
implication conveyed by his evidence is that, since the respondent had not
funded the R and D and, consequentially,
he had been paid nothing for his work
in the project, he was obliged to leave Australia to advance his
career[35]. In light
of his oral evidence, that he was a working as a paid contractor to CDS and that
he was not engaged fulltime on the applicant’s
project, the Tribunal is
unable to accept the implication conveyed and is satisfied that, contrary to
what he said in his statement,
he did not work on the project fulltime.
- However,
the Tribunal accepts Mr Sofiaan Fraval’s evidence that he spent
considerable time on the HZXD project. He stated that:
[t]he
work was undertaken to prepare a proprietary system for the facial recognition
interface after systematically investigating
other technologies that provided
biometric security enhancements over the traditional pay and park
systems.[36]
- Mr
Sofiaan Fraval told the Tribunal that he engaged in modifying the CDS developed
iPark software utilising a prepared application
programming interface system
(API) obtained from Biometriq. The T Documents contain the modified version of
the 400 page document
entitled, HZXD “...Biometric Car park application:
Software
Listing”[37].
Some, at least, of the modification seems to have involved substituting
HZXD’s name for that of CDS, which he described as
”it was a big
deal to do
that”[38]; some
functions involved rewriting information contained in a different computer
language[39]; some
developmental work to ensure implementation of the existing
codes[40]; but overall
to achieve what he accepted as being ”...hooks to enable connectivity with
different technologies and
algorithms”[41].
- It
was also Mr Sofiaan Fraval’s evidence that he alone was responsible for
driving the
project[42]. However,
in his evidence Dr Hadrian Fraval maintained that Mr Sofiaan Fraval was in
reality ”...one of a team of
people”[43]. At
the conclusion of his oral evidence, Mr Sofiaan Fraval said that the work on
items 8, 9 and 10 of the plan (referred to in paragraph
10 above) were
undertaken by Mr Fendis, but he was unaware of which capacity Mr Fendis was
acting[44].
- Mr
Fendis provided a statement, dated 12 February
2009[45]. It
consisted of selected word for word extracts from a previous letter, dated 28
September 2007, sent by the applicant to the
respondent[46]. Mr
Fendis claimed that it may have been the situation that his words in an earlier
unidentified document were used by someone else
in his/her
document[47]. Mr
Fendis denied that he had adopted the content of his statement without
considering whether that content reflected the activities
undertaken in the
claimed R and D carried out by the
applicant[48]. Given
the date of the letter and the date Mr Fendis maintained he had prepared his
statement, the Tribunal is satisfied that Mr
Fendis’ statement is
constituted by extracts copied from the prior letter. However, the Tribunal
recognises that it does not
follow that, because this is so, the contents of the
statement do not represent the views held by him.
- It
was Mr Fendis’ evidence that while he agreed GOGlobal had developed a
generic host application program, which permitted other
software applications to
link to its online billing and credit card authorisation program, he was unable
to say if HZXD had accessed
the
program[49]. However,
Mr Fendis confirmed that Biofilter, pursuant to a joint venture arrangement with
the applicant, supplied the applicant
with facial recognition
software[50]. It was
Mr Fendis’ evidence that Biofilter ”generally” developed the
biometric applications as part of the joint
venture partnerships in which it
engaged[51]. In
respect of the facial software development, other than the joint venture, Mr
Fendis said that Biofilter operated independently
from the applicant and had no
involvement in the day to day R and D operations undertaken by the
applicant[52].
- Dr
Hadrian Fraval told the Tribunal that Mr Sofiaan Fraval had undertaken work for
the project both at CDS and
Biofilter[53]. It was
his evidence that CDS, Biofilter and Rofin were all part of the project, and
that he was involved from the outset. Dr Fraval
said that two of Rofin’s
personnel had been involved part-time on the
project[54], as well
as other
contractors[55], and
that Rofin billed the applicant for approximately $75,000 for work carried
out[56]. No request
had been made by the applicant to Rofin to produce any records it may have on
the project[57]. Dr
Fraval said that his input was to advise the applicant of the pitfalls of using
the then available biometric
technology[58], and
that the Rofin staff were involved at the stage when fingerprint biometrics was
being considered[59].
While he could recall attending meetings connected with the project, Dr Fraval
was unable to recall if minutes were kept before
confirming communication would
mainly have been by way of
discussion[60].
- Dr
Fraval told the Tribunal that, ”...the absolute the [sic] nub of this
whole project is artificial
intelligence”[61].
He described ”artificial intelligence” as consideration of the data
from an algorithm to determine ways it could be
changed in order to get closer
to 100% accuracy in biometric
recognition[62]. Dr
Fraval said that Rofin had now taken over the project.
- It
was Professor Wagner’s evidence that, while he acknowledged there was
plenty of work to engage a programmer in writing the
programs necessary to bring
the project to fruition, the work did not involve innovation or technical
risk[63]. He said
that standard transmission and internet protocols existed at that time, which
could be utilised to prepare the software
connections[64]. The
Professor’s evidence coincided with that of the applicant that using
facial recognition would never be 100% secure.
Programming required the
determination of a threshold of risk in the use of the biometric settings.
However this, in the Professor’s
view, while it may involve
experimentation, did not involve
innovation[65].
CONSIDERATION
- The
evidence establishes to the Tribunal’s satisfaction that Mr Sofiaan Fraval
was the person responsible for undertaking the
R and D in respect of the claim,
and that his father, Mr Sachlan Fraval, was responsible for the business
organisation of the applicant.
However, in view of Dr Hadrian Fraval’s
evidence, the Tribunal cannot be satisfied that Mr Sofiaan Fraval was the only
person
working on the project, nor that HZXD was the only company involved in
carrying out the R and D connected with the program.
- The
Tribunal is satisfied that the initial work was carried out in the 2003-2004
year to identify the form of biometric technology
which would be suitable for
adaptation in the project. This was carried out by examining various
applications including fingerprint,
iris, voice and facial recognition. While
ultimately facial recognition was chosen as the preferred biometric medium, it
is unknown
what experiments were carried out in order to reach that decision.
In the absence of that pertinent information, the Tribunal is
unable to conclude
that whatever work was done was either innovative or involved high levels of
technical risk.
- The
400 page document entitled HZXD “...Biometric Car park application:
Software Listing” was a software program originally
issued by CDS. While
the Tribunal is satisfied that Mr Sofiaan Fraval modified the program for at
least part of the work relevant
to the application, it is unable to determine
the content or extent of that modification. The lack of supporting evidence
leaves
the Tribunal unable to calculate what portion, if any, of the application
should be accepted as involving innovation or a high degree
of technical risk.
The Tribunal is satisfied that the applicant had ample opportunity, over a
lengthy period of time, to locate
and to provide more detailed evidence, but
none was forthcoming.
- The
same is true of other software programs obtained by the applicant and modified
by Mr Sofiaan Fraval. For example, the kit obtained
from GOGlobal which was to
be modified for utilisation in the payment process. The Tribunal is satisfied,
as Dr Hadrian Fraval
confirmed[66], that no
software codes for application in the project were developed.
- Since
there were no contemporaneous records of what work was undertaken, and when it
was conducted including the results of any claimed
trial and error processes,
and since the claimed R and D has not resulted in any identifiable product, the
Tribunal is satisfied
that it is impossible to assess what was done constituted
systematic, innovative or experimental work or involved technical risk.
- In
any event, the evidence of Professor Wagner is to the effect that, while
programming work was carried out, it did not even at the
time of the claim
commencing in 2002 involve ”innovation” or ”high technical
risk”. The Tribunal accepts
that there is a distinction between
conducting trial and error experiments, as was claimed by the applicant to be
undertaken during
the course of the project, and innovation. The evidence
points to the former being undertaken to determine whether, in a system
which
can never be risk free, an acceptable level of risk can be established. The
experiments determined whether one, two or more
photographs of the
individual’s face needed to be taken to ensure as accurate as possible
recognition or, if not, whether greater
security could be ensured if facial
recognition was combined with other modes of recognition (for example, car
registration plates).
This goes to the efficiency and practicality of the
chosen method, but it does not evidence ‘innovation’. That is,
in
the terms of s 73B (2B)(a) of ITA Act, the Tribunal cannot be satisfied that
there is ”an appreciable element of novelty”.
Nor does such testing
involve a high level of technical risk as defined in s 73B (2B)(b)(ii) of ITA
Act, as there is no evidence
that any ”scientific method has been applied,
in a systematic progression of work (based on principles of physical,
biological,
chemical, medical, engineering or computer sciences)”.
- Mr
Fendis’ evidence that the carpark project was solely worked on by the
applicant is inconsistent with Mr Sofiaan Fraval’s
evidence that it was Mr
Fendis, who was responsible for the development of items 8, 9 and 10 of the plan
referred to in paragraph
10 above. The only evidence of Mr Fendis being
involved on the project was a suggestion by Dr Hadrian Fraval that Biofilter the
company of which Mr Fendis is the CEO may have been a
contractor[67]. If Mr
Fendis, or Biofilter, carried out the work nominated by Mr Sofiaan Fraval, then
the Tribunal is unable to conclude that it
was carried out by the applicant.
Even accepting Mr Sofiaan Fraval’s evidence that Mr Fendis, whether in his
capacity as the
CEO of Biofilter or in a personal or some other capacity, did
some work on the project, the Tribunal is unable to determine what
that work
involved. In as far as this application is concerned, the Tribunal is left
unable to be satisfied that any work undertaken
for items 8, 9 and 10 of the
plan can be described as ”being systematic, investigative or
experimental”. Nor can the
Tribunal be satisfied that any such work
involved ”innovation or high levels of technical risk”.
- The
Tribunal was urged by Mr Sachlan Fraval to look at the project as a whole to
determine whether it was innovative or involved a
high level of technical risk.
In looking at the project as a whole, the Tribunal understands the project to
consist of the adaptation
of interfaces to connect pre-existing identification
systems to replace card or token systems used for carpark management. Without
some more defined descriptions of the work actually carried out as R and D, in
the Tribunal’s view, the project as a whole
does not demonstrate the
characteristics of R and D as required by the ITA Act.
- For
the reasons given, the Tribunal affirms the decision under review.
I certify that the 40 preceding paragraphs are a
true copy of the reasons for the decision herein of
Mr G L McDonald, Deputy President
Mr C Ermert, Member
Signed: ..........(sgd D De Andrade)..............
D De Andrade, Personal Assistant
Dates of Hearing 15 and 16 February 2010
Date of Decision 9 November 2010
For the Applicant Mr Sachlan Fraval, Dr H Fraval and
Mr G Fendis
Counsel for the Respondent Mr S Rebikoff
Solicitor for the Respondent Mallesons Stephen Jaques
[1] Income Tax
Assessment Act 1936, ss 73B- 73Z and Industry Research and Development
Act 1986, ss 39L and 39S (IR& D Act). The Australian Tax Office
requests the respondent to issue a certificate pursuant to s 39L of the IR &
D Act
as to whether the activities in question constitute R and D for the
purposes of s 73B of the ITA Act; s 39S of the IR & D Act
provides for
internal review of a decision as to whether activities constitute R &
D.
[2] T Documents, T
52.
[3] The first,
dated 1 July 2003, T Documents, T 52; the second, dated 28 September 2007,
T Documents, T 18; and the third is set
out in the witness statement of
Sachlan Fraval, dated 2 February 2010, Exhibit
A1.
[4] Transcript, p
8.
[5] Transcript, pp
116-117.
[6] T
Documents, T 50, p
298.
[7] T Documents,
T 50, p 301.
[8]
Id
[9]
Transcript, p
27.
[10] T
Documents, T 50, p
301.
[11]
Ibid, p
305.
[12] T
Documents, T
44.
[13] T
Documents, T 50 at pp
301-306.
[14]
Ibid, p
304.
[15]
Transcript, p
144.
[16]
Ibid, p
153.
[17]
Ibid, p
146.
[18]
Transcript, p 78 and T Documents, T 50 at p
303.
[19]
Transcript, p
166.
[20]
Ibid, p
198.
[21]
Ibid, p
194.
[22]
Ibid, p
157.
[23]
Ibid, p 181 and Exhibit A4, p 1.
[24] Transcript, pp
178, 185-186.
[25]
Ibid, p
146.
[26] Exhibit
R5, para 18.
[27]
Transcript, p
208.
[28]
Id.
[29]
Ibid., pp 165-166, 181 and
192.
[30] Exhibit
A2, p 1.
[31]
Transcript, p
166.
[32]
Ibid, pp
187-188.
[33]
Exhibit A4, p
2.
[34] Transcript,
p 157.
[35]
Ibid, p
195.
[36] Exhibit
A4, p 2.
[37] T
Documents, T 53.The full version was provided to the Tribunal pursuant to its
Amended Direction, 28 July
2009.
[38]
Transcript, p
172.
[39]
Ibid, p
174.
[40]
Ibid, pp
174-175.
[41]
Ibid, p
175.
[42]
Ibid, pp 181 and
191.
[43]
Ibid, p
117.
[44]
Ibid, pp
199-200.
[45]
Exhibit A2.
[46] T
Documents, T
18.
[47]
Transcript, pp 82 and
89.
[48]
Ibid, p
82.
[49]
Ibid, p
75.
[50]
Ibid, pp
75-76.
[51]
Ibid, p
76.
[52]
Ibid, pp
76-77.
[53]
Ibid, p
117.
[54]
Ibid, p
127.
[55]
Ibid, p
128.
[56]
Ibid, p
119.
[57]
Ibid, pp 119 and
127.
[58]
Ibid, p
121.
[59]
Ibid, p
131.
[60]
Id.
[61]
Ibid, p
123.
[62]
Id.
[63]
Ibid, p
211.
[64]
Id.
[65]
Ibid, pp
209-219.
[66]
Ibid, p
140.
[67]
Ibid, p 120.
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