On April 23, 2015 the Ontario government tabled a 2015 budget that proposes significant changes to the programs aimed at supporting film, television and digital media. Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit (OIDMTC) Eligibility criteria for the program will be restricted to supporting entertainment products as well as educational products for children under the age of 12. The list of specifically excluded products will be extended to include products centered on news and public affairs. Exclusions to promotional products will be further strengthened. These changes are effective immediately and will apply to expenditures incurred after April 23, 2015. Products which qualified for the credit under the old rules but are no longer eligible will qualify for relief with respect to expenditures incurred prior to April 24th, 2015. The “all of substantially all” rule requiring that at least 90% of the product be developed in Ontario by the company claiming the […]
Yearly Archives: 2015
In 2014, the CRA started rolling out a new program for the first-time SR&ED claimants appropriately named the First-Time Claimant Advisory Service or FTCAS. The program is new, and there seems to be some confusion with respect to its objectives and consequences. The confusion seems to stem from the CRA’s description of the program and the way it is being implemented. On the one hand, the CRA states that “the FTCAS is not a review or an audit and the CRA staff will not make any determination of the eligibility of work or expenditures claimed”. On the other hand, in the same document, the CRA explains that “should a refund be expected as a result of filing a claim, it will be processed after the site visit.” After reading this, one would immediately wonder why the SR&ED refund is being processed after the site visit if during the visit the […]
At first glance, the Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit, or OIDMTC, has extremely broad applicability. As per the eligibility criteria, and product that either educates, entertains or informs, and has some combination of images, text or sound may be eligible under the program. However, there are a number of caveats with respect to eligible products that must be considered before undertaking an OIDMTC claim. 1. Corporate Education – Products that intended to help educate people on how to perform their work tasks are generally not eligible. What this means is that developing a website that can educate a company’s employees on how to perform particular tasks, what forms to complete etc., even though they may be interactive and inform, are generally ineligible under the OIDMTC. That being said, a product made available to end-users (e.g. the public) that can educate them about a particular profession (e.g. Learning how to […]