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V0540-16 9 February 2016 · SG de Impuestos sobre las Personas Jurídicas Criterion in force
IS · deducciones por i+d+i

R&D&i tax deduction limits apply collectively to all entities within a business group

A query was raised regarding how to calculate R&D&i tax deduction limits when several entities within a business group opt for a tax credit or discount. The Directorate General for Taxes (DGT) clarifies that the limits of €1 million and €3 million apply to the business group as a whole.

The question raised

Clarification is requested regarding the penultimate paragraph of the response to the previous inquiry, which states: "Exclusively for the purpose of calculating the limits provided for in Article 44.2 of the TRLIS, all entities forming part of the same commercial group under the terms provided for in Article 42 of the Commercial Code shall be taken into consideration. This means that each entity of the commercial group subject to Corporate Income Tax to which the TRLIS is applicable may request the application or payment established in Article 44.2 of the TRLIS for the deductions generated by itself, although the amount of the deduction applied or paid in accordance with this section by the entire commercial group, in the case of technological innovation activities, may not jointly exceed the amount of 1 million euros per year."

The DGT's ruling

The limits of 1 million euros for technological innovation and 3 million euros for R&D&i apply to the amount of deductions applied or paid with a 20% discount. These limits apply to the entire group of companies pursuant to Article 42 of the Commercial Code. If several entities within the group opt for this regime, their deductions must be aggregated to comply with said limits. Entities subject to regional (foral) regulations without a similar regime are not counted towards these limits.

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