Conditions for application to innovative worker allowance
The basic step to be met to be able to apply the innovative workers' allowance is to make a calculation of the R&D allowance for 2022. If, as a result of this calculation, it turns out that the R&D relief cannot be consumed in part or in full, it can still be applied as a relief for innovative employees by reducing their PIT advances. The records kept for the purposes of the R&D relief can therefore be used to account for this additional relief. At the same time, it is worth bearing in mind that, due to changes introduced from 2022 onwards, as much as 200% of eligible salary costs can be deducted under the R&D relief.
The deduction for innovative employees is dedicated to entrepreneurs who have incurred a loss in the tax year or who have not generated sufficient income to allow the deduction of qualified costs under the R&D relief, in simple terms - the deduction for innovative employees applies when the R&D relief is not available.
What options are available for the innovative employee allowance?
A taxpayer has the option to deduct the amount of unused R&D allowance from advances on income tax paid on the salaries of employees engaged in R&D work. The deduction is then made by multiplying the value of the taxpayer's undeducted R&D allowance by its tax rate. The allowance applies to the salaries of only those employees whose working time devoted to R&D activities amounts to at least 50% of their total working time.
The taxpayer can deduct the innovation allowance for employees starting from the month following the month in which he filed his annual tax return. The deduction only applies until the end of the tax year in which he filed this return. The preference will therefore only have a real effect for a few months of the current year. The tax office will learn of its application from the PIT-4R, which will only be filed in January of the following year. However, it is possible that tax offices will contact taxpayers earlier to ask what the reason for the lack of advance PIT payments is.
The new preference primarily enables entrepreneurs to reduce the amount of advances for income tax resulting from the salaries of employees involved in R&D activities. As a result, the use of the allowance for innovative employees represents a real tax saving for the entrepreneur and will therefore have a positive impact on the company's liquidity.