AusBiotech makes submission to federal government over tax changes

AusBiotech, the representative body for Australia’s biotechnology industry, has made a draft submission to the country’s federal government on the future of its taxation system.

The federal government has engaged in a formal process to consider the next steps for its taxation system and made a call for submissions to inform the options, due to be published later this year ahead of the White Paper next year.

The recently-launched Biotechnology Industry Position Survey 2015 demonstrated that the industry’s chief executives want to keep and grow their companies in Australia, but tax reform was a major issue. The Research & Development Tax Incentive was repeatedly cited as the only positive policy for biotech companies, enabling reinvestment into research and bolstering clinical trial activity. In an open question in what public policy issue most concerns companies at a federal level, 19 out of 49 companies said tax.