Comment by ttul
3 years ago
In Canada, qualifying R&D spending generates a tax credit that can be worth 60% of engineers’ salaries. In other words, a company that spends $1M on engineers in Canada not only writes off the $1M in spending, but also gets a credit of $600,000.
Fine print: this is only available to Canadian-controlled entities. Foreign-controlled entities can claim R&D tax credits as well, but the rate is far less generous.
Wow, this is amazing. Do you have any links with more details on this?
It sounds like Canada is trying to make it as easy as possible for companies to set up shop in Canada.
Personally, even incorporating in Canada is so much easier. A federal corporation just costs $100 to make, and even less to maintain annually. (In contrast, in the United States, an LLC set up through Stripe Atlas costs $500, and you have an annual recurring fee $300 owed to Delaware + registered agent fees.)
Google Scientific Research and Experimental Development. Personally I am not a fan of this system because I believe it distorts incentives and crowds out private investment. On the other hand, it is a pragmatic solution that relatively efficiently shifts investment activity to R&D and away from the Canadian traditions of shifting rocks and oil and trees around.