“We receive a few million NOK from Skattefunn every year. It is something we focus on and try to make good use of”, says Gunnar Semb, Senior Engineer R&D at Norsafe.
At an Innovation Seminar in Kristiansand Tuesday, Senior Advisor Erik Furseth at The Research Council of Norway, explained Skattefunn for approximately 50 participants from a large number of NODE companies.
The Skattefunn R&D tax incentive scheme is a government program designed to stimulate research and development in Norwegian trade and industry. The incentive is a tax credit and comes in the form of a possible deduction from a company’s payable corporate tax.
“The principle is that those who are innovative should pay less taxes that those who are not”, says Furseth.
NEW KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS OR CAPABILITIES
All branches of industry and all types of companies can apply for support from Skattefunn. To be eligible to apply, the company must seek to develop a new or improved product, service or production process through a dedicated R&D project. The project must generate new knowledge, skills and capabilities within the company.
“SMEs receive approximately NOK 160 per hour spent on R&D. Larger companies receive a little less. Unfortunately, only 0.7 per cent of all Norwegian companies make use of Skattefunn. We would love to see that number go up”, says Furseth.
Looking back, NODE has been underrepresented in Skattefunn. However, the number of applications has been steadily rising. Last year, more than 80 per cent of all applications from NODE companies were approved, according to Furseth.
63 ONGOING NODE PROJECTS
There are currently 63 ongoing NODE projects in Skattefunn. Norsafe tops the list with an impressive 13 projects, followed by Origo (4), Stimline (4), MH Wirth (4), Force Technology (4), Noroff (3) and Umoe (2).
The Research Council estimates a MNOK 62 return from Skattefunn to NODE companies in 2016 and 2017.
The Innovation Seminar was organized by Siren M. Neset at The Research Council of Norway in cooperation with GCE NODE.
