‘Rejection’ raises manufacturers’ ire

Press, 13 May 1987, Page 29

‘Rejection’ raises manufacturers’ ire

PA Wellington The Manufacturers’ Federation has criticised an apparent rejection by the Government of the key proposals of the Beattie report on science and technology. The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Caygill, said in Hamilton that the Government did not favour a 150 per cent tax write-off for expenditure on research and devlopment as proposed by the report Mr Caygill said such a write-off would create a huge loophole for manufacturers to exploit. A 150 per cent deduction would allow manufacturers to claim more off tax than they spent on actual research, he said. It was too general and would encourage abuse. The 150 per cent tax write-off was costing Australia sAust2oo million a year.

Dr Bernard Healy,

research and develop-

ment executive of the Manufacturers’ Federation, said almost all countries except New Zealand had some kind of incentives to support research and development in industry. He said the 150 per cent write-off in Australia had to be seen as part of a decision taken at a senior political level to support more research because Australia had slipped behind.