Private ruling: Early stage innovation company
Date of advice: 1 May 2020
Published: June 2020
Ruling period: Year ending 30 June 2020
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2019

Ruling: Q1: Does the Company meet the criteria of an Early Stage Innovation Company (ESIC) under subsection 360-40(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) for the year ending 30 June 2020? | A1: Yes.

Relevant facts and circumstances: 1. The Company was incorporated in Australia in the 20XX income year. Its equity interests are not listed for quotation in the official list of any stock exchange. 2. The Company has no subsidiaries. 3. In the 20XX and 20XX income years the Company did not generate any assessable income. In the 20XX income year the Company had less than $200,000 of assessable income. 4. In the 20XX, 20XX and 20XX income years the Company incurred expenses totalling less than $1 million. 5. A digital platform is being developed by the Company. 6. The Company's ultimate market is the global market, with its initial target being the Australian state market followed by the other Australian states. Commercialisation strategy 7. There are three phases of development that have been completed. 8. A 5 year agreement has been signed and partnerships have been established. 9. The present market that has been secured to date is the WA market with future focus on the eastern states.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Subdivision 360-A | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 360-40 | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 360-45

Reasons for decision: Summary: The Company Pty Ltd meets the eligibility requirements of, an ESIC under, subsection 360-40(1). | Detailed Reasoning - Qualifying Early Stage Innovation Company: 1. Subsection 360-40(1) outlines the criteria required for a company to qualify as an Early Stage Innovation Company (ESIC) at a particular time in an income year. This time is referred to as the test time. The criteria are based on a series of tests to identify if the company is at an early stage of its development and it is developing new or significantly improved innovations to generate an economic return. | Detailed Reasoning - 'The early stage test': 2. The early stage test requirements are outlined in detail within paragraphs 360-40(1)(a) to (d). | Detailed Reasoning - Incorporation or Registration - paragraph 360-40(1)(a): 3. To meet the requirement in paragraph 360-40(1)(a), at a particular time (the test time) in an income year (the current year) the company must have been either: i. incorporated in Australia within the last three income years (the latest being the current year); or ii. incorporated in Australia within the last six income years (the latest being the current year), and across the last three of those income years before the current year the company and its 100% subsidiaries incurred total expenses of $1 million or less; or iii. registered in the Australian Business Register (ABR) within the last three income years (the latest being the current year). 4. The term 'current year' is defined in subsection 360-40(1) with reference to the 'test time'; the 'current year' being the income year in which the company issues shares to the investor. 5. A company that does not meet any of these conditions will not qualify as an ESIC. | Detailed Reasoning - Total expenses - paragraph 360-40(1)(b): 6. To meet the requirement in paragraph 360-40(1)(b), the company and its 100% subsidiaries must have incurred total expenses of $1 million or less in the income year before the current year. | Detailed Reasoning - Assessable income - paragraph 360-40(1)(c): 7. To meet the requirement in paragraph 360-40(1)(c), the company and its 100% subsidiaries must have derived total assessable income of $200,000 or less in the income year before the current year. | Detailed Reasoning - No stock exchange listing - paragraph 360-40(1)(d): 8. To meet the requirement in paragraph 360-40(1)(d), the company must not be listed on any stock exchange in Australia or a foreign country. | Detailed Reasoning - Innovation tests: 9. If the company satisfies the early stage test, the company must also satisfy one of two innovation tests: the objective (100 point) test or the principles-based test. | Detailed Reasoning - 'Principles-based test' - subparagraphs 360-40(1)(e)(i) to (v): 10. To satisfy the principles-based test, the company must meet five requirements in paragraph 360-40(1)(e). This is tested at a time immediately after the relevant new shares are issued to the investor. 11. The company can demonstrate that it meets each requirement through existing documentation such as a business plan, commercialisation strategy, competition analysis or other company documents. The company must be able to show that tangible steps have been or will be taken in relation to each of the requirements. 12. The five requirements of the principles-based test, as outlined in paragraph 360-40(1)(e) are: i. the company must be genuinely focused on developing one or more new or significantly improved innovations for commercialisation ii. the business relating to that innovation must have a high growth potential iii. the company must demonstrate that it has the potential to be able to successfully scale up the business relating to the innovation iv. the company must demonstrate that it has the potential to be able to address a broader than local market, including global markets, through that business, and v. the company must demonstrate that it has the potential to be able to have competitive advantages for that business. | Detailed Reasoning - Developing new or significantly improved innovations for commercialisation: 13. For the purposes of Subdivision 360-A, the Explanatory Memorandum to the Tax Laws Amendment (Tax Incentives for Innovation) Bill 2016 ('EM') provides the following at paragraph 1.76 in relation to the definition of innovation: "Implicit in the definition of innovation is the requirement that the company is developing a new or significantly improved type of innovation such as a product, process, service, marketing or organisational method. This list of various types of innovations provides flexibility for innovation companies and is adaptable to current and future innovations. The Oslo Manual, published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) provides a description of these different types of innovations..." 14. The innovation being developed by the company must either be new or significantly improved for an applicable addressable market. The company's addressable market is the revenue opportunity or market demand arising from the innovation or the related business. The addressable market must be objective and realistic. 15. Improvements must be significant in nature to meet this requirement. Customising existing products or minor changes resulting from software updates, pricing strategies or seasonal changes are examples of improvements that would not be considered significant. 16. The OECD Oslo Manual defines innovations as significant changes, with the intention of distinguishing significant changes from routine minor changes. However, it is important to recognise that an innovation can also consist of a series of smaller incremental changes that together constitute a significant change. 17. In discussing services innovation activity, paragraph 111 of the OECD Oslo Manual states, "Innovation activity in services also tends to be a continuous process, consisting of a series of incremental changes in products and processes. This may occasionally complicate the identification of innovations in services in terms of single events, i.e. as the implementation of a significant change in products, processes or other methods." 18. The OECD Oslo Manual, in relation to defining innovative services, states at paragraph 161 that "innovations in services can include significant improvements in how they are provided (for example, in terms of their efficiency or speed), the addition of new functions or characteristics to existing services, or the introduction of entirely new services." 19. The company must be genuinely focused on developing the innovation for a commercial purpose in order to generate economic value and revenue for the company. This requirement draws the distinction between simply having an idea and commercialising an idea. 20. 'Commercialisation' includes a range of activities that involve the implementation or sale of a new or significantly improved innovation that will directly lead to the generation of economic value for the company. | Detailed Reasoning - High growth potential: 21. The company must be able to demonstrate that it has the potential for high growth within a broad addressable market. This refers to the company's ability to rapidly expand its business. Companies that are limited to supplying local customers will not meet this requirement. | Detailed Reasoning - Scalability: 22. The company must be able to demonstrate that it has the potential to successfully scale up the business. The company must have operating leverage, where as it increases its market share or enters into new markets, its existing revenues can be multiplied with a reduced or minimal increase in operating costs per unit. | Detailed Reasoning - Broader than local market: 23. The company must be able to demonstrate that it has the potential to address a market that is broader than a local city, area or region. The company does not need to have a serviceable market at a national, multinational or global scale at the test time. However, it does need to show that the business is capable of addressing a market that is broader than a local market and that the business can be adapted to a broader scale in the future. | Detailed Reasoning - Competitive advantages: 24. The company must be able to demonstrate that it has the potential to have competitive advantages, such as a cost or differential advantage over its competitors which are sustainable for the business as it expands. The company can analyse what competitors in the market offer, and consider whether the company has a differentiating advantage that would allow it to outperform these competitors. | Detailed Reasoning - Application to your circumstances: Test time 25. For the purposes of this ruling, the test time for determining if the Company is a qualifying ESIC will be a particular date during the income year ending 30 June 2020. Current year 26. For the purposes of subsection 360-40(1), the current year will be the year ended 30 June 2020 (the 2020 income year). For clarity, in relation to particular requirements within subsection 360-40(1), the last three income years will include the years ended 30 June 2020, 2019 and 2018, and the income year before the current year will be the year ended 30 June 2019 (the 2019 income year). | Detailed Reasoning - Early stage test: Incorporation or Registration - paragraph 360-40(1)(a) 27. The Company was incorporated in the 20XX income year. 28. The Company does not satisfy subparagraphs 360-40(1)(a)(i) or (iii) as it was not incorporated in Australia or registered on the ABR within the last 3 income years. 29. The Company will need to satisfy the element in subparagraph 360-40(1)(a)(ii). This element is made up of two parts, being time of incorporation and expenses incurred across 3 years by the company and its 100% subsidiaries. 30. The Company satisfies the first requirement of subparagraph 360-40(1)(a)(ii), as it was incorporated in Australia within the last 6 income years. 31. The second requirement of subparagraph 360-40(1)(a)(ii) is that the Company and its 100% subsidiaries must have incurred total expenses of $1 million or less across the last 3 income years before the current year. The relevant 3 income years in this circumstance are the years ended 30 June 2019, 2018 and 2017. 32. The Company has no 100% wholly owned subsidiaries. Its expenses for the 2017, 2018 and 2019 income years totalled less than $1 million. 33. As the Company had expenses totalling less than $1 million in the previous three income years, paragraph 360-40(1)(a)(ii) is satisfied. Total expenses - paragraph 360-40(1)(b) 34. As the Company had expenses less than $1 million in the prior income year, paragraph 360-40(1)(b) is satisfied. Assessable income - paragraph 360-40(1)(c) 35. As the Company's assessable income was less than $200,000 in the 2019 income year paragraph 360-40(1)(c) is satisfied. No stock exchange listing - paragraph 360-40(1)(d) 36. As the Company is privately owned and is not listed on any stock exchange in Australia or a foreign country, subparagraph 360-40(1)(d) is satisfied. Conclusion on early stage test 37. The Company will satisfy the early stage test for the entire 2020 income year, as each of the requirements within paragraphs 360-40(1)(a) to (d) have been satisfied. | Detailed Reasoning - Principles based test: Developing new or significantly improved innovations for commercialisation - subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(i) 38. The Company has identified a gap in the market resulting in the development of its digital platform. Genuinely focussed on developing for commercialisation - subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(i) 39. The Company has undertaken market research in identifying gaps in the industry. 40. This has led to the Company developing the platform. 41. The Company remains in the development phase and is genuinely focussed on developing the platform for commercial purposes. Therefore, subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(i) will be satisfied for the time period from 1 July 2019 until 30 June 2020. Conclusion on subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(i) 42. The Company is genuinely focussed on developing its digital platform for a commercial purpose. 43. Therefore, subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(i) will be satisfied for the time period from 1 July 2019 until 30 June 2020 or the date when the platform has been fully developed, whichever occurs earliest. Once it has been fully developed, the Company will no longer be developing the product for commercialisation and subparagraph 360-40((1)(e)(i) will no longer be satisfied. High growth potential - subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(ii) 44. The Company has identified a gap in the market, and the benefits the platform can provide, where there is high growth potential. 45. Therefore, subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(ii) will be satisfied. Scalability - subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(iii) 46. The platform is an online platform. With an online platform the development costs can be leveraged against the costs of operating the app. The operating costs of a platform are generally low (and in most cases fixed), so that as more people use the platform, the Company's cost per user is lowered. 47. This provides the Company with the potential to successfully scale up its business. Therefore, subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(iii) will be satisfied. Broader than local market- subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(iv) 48. The platform will initially be targeted at the specific Australian state market but is intended for worldwide use. 49. Thus, the ultimate addressable market is on a global scale and is not confined to this specific Australian state. 50. The Company has demonstrated that the platform has the potential to address a broader market than just the local market, including international markets. Therefore, subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(iv) will be satisfied. Competitive advantages - subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(v) 51. The platform has differentiating features which will give it a competitive advantage: 52. Being the first digital platform in the market provides the first mover advantage. The Company has demonstrated the potential to have competitive advantages, satisfying subparagraph 360-40(1)(e)(v). Conclusion on principles test 53. The Company satisfies the principles based test as it satisfies the requirements within subparagraphs 360-40(1)(e)(i) to (v) for the period commencing 1 July 2019 until 30 June 2020 or the date when the platform has been fully developed and is ready for sale, whichever occurs earlier. Conclusion 54. The Company meets the eligibility criteria of an ESIC under section 360-40 for the period commencing 1 July 2019 until the earlier of 30 June 2020 or the date when the platform has been fully developed and is ready for sale, whichever occurs earlier.