Private ruling: Early-stage innovation company eligibility
Date of advice: 13 November 2025
Published: 5 January 2026
Ruling period: DD MM YYYY to DD MM YYYY
Date scheme commenced: DD MM YYYY

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 for the period DD MM YYYY to DD MM YYYY? | A1: Yes

Relevant facts and circumstances: Background Facts 1. The Company is an Australian proprietary limited company incorporated in Australia on DD MM YYYY. 2. The Company is not part of an income tax consolidated group and does not have any subsidiaries. 3. For the financial year ended DD MM YYYY the Company did not earn any income and did not incur expenses. 4. The Company's shares are not listed for quotation on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) or any other domestic or international stock exchange. 5. The Company issued new ordinary shares to investors in the financial year ended DD MM YYYY. Product Development and Commercialisation Strategy 6. The Company is developing a platform to address a gap in the addressable market. 7. The Company explained the platform's key innovation. 8. The Company's product innovation represents a significantly improved service, a new delivery process and a new organisational method. 9. The Company explained the limitations of traditional processes, products and services and detailed how the Company's platform directly and comprehensively addresses each of the limitations. 10. The Company is genuinely focused on developing its platform for commercialisation. The Company demonstrated that its activities are firmly concentrated on the implementation and sale of its innovation to generate economic value. 11. The Company detailed work it has undertaken, or is undertaking, in relation to developing their product/service including a timeline and the status of each component of work. 12. The Company's platform is expected to be fully developed by MM YYYY. 13. The Company provided its phased commercialisation plan. High Growth Potential 14. The Company demonstrated that it is strategically positioned in the rapidly expanding X markets. 15. Analysis of market research from leading global firms provides a clear, data-driven picture of the immense growth potential available to the Company. 16. The Company summarised the size and forecast growth rates of its key addressable domestic and global markets. 17. The Company is not just participating in a growth industry; it is leveraging the fastest-growing technology within that industry to disrupt a specific, high-value service segment. 18. The Company detailed primary growth drivers that will ensure its high growth potential is sustainable. Scale up the business 19. The Company's business model is intrinsically scalable by design. 20. The Company's automation, technology-first approach provides operating leverage that is structurally unattainable for traditional firms. 21. The Company has determined its cost and price structure. 22. The Company demonstrated that customer numbers and the Company's revenue can be multiplied over time while incurring reduced or minimal increase in operating costs. 23. The Company's ability to scale without being constrained by limiting factors in the particular industry provides the Company with a decisive and sustainable advantage. It can meet a level of market demand that its competitors are structurally incapable of serving. Broader than Local Market 24. The Company's business is inherently global in its nature, scope, and ambition. 25. The Company provided intrinsic characteristics of its business model as evidence of its potential to address global markets. 26. The addressable market for the Company's platform is global. 27. The Company delivers its service via a cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform. Unlike a business delivering physical goods or in-person services, there are no significant logistical barriers to exporting its offering. A client in any country with a stable internet connection can onboard as easily as a domestic client. This digital delivery model removes challenges traditionally associated with international expansion. 28. The Company described the core feature of its value proposition. As the effectiveness of the platform increases, it will be more attractive to new users around the world. Competitive Advantages 29. The Company possesses a multi-layered competitive advantage that is embedded in its technology, its business model, and its strategic market positioning. 30. This advantage is not only significant but is structured to be sustainable and to widen over time as the market evolves. 31. The Company detailed the key pillars of its competitive moat including proprietary technology, superior performance, cost advantage and sustainability. 32. The Company described how its competitive advantage is amplified by its alignment with the future trajectory of the particular industry. 33. The Company provided details of its competitor analysis, naming key competitors and their products and services, and highlighting the functionality of the platform which allow the Company to outperform those competitors. Intellectual Property 34. The Company is the developer and owner of the Intellectual Property (IP) related to its innovation. 35. The Company listed steps it has taken to protect its IP from competitors. 36. The Company listed and described activities it has undertaken to maintain 'first mover advantage'. Information provided: 1. The Company provided the following documents containing detailed information in relation to its product: • Private ruling application dated DD MM YYYY and accompanying submission. • Responses to our requests for further information. 2. We referred to the information within these documents in applying the relevant tests to the Company's circumstances.

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 Subdivision 360-A | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 360-15 | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 360-40 | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 360-45