The Tax Agency has undertaken a wave of checks to ensure that the lowercase i is not passed off as a capital I, to the point of turning this distinction into one of the star actions of its new inspection plan. He has his eye on software, where it is more difficult to determine whether one is inventing or innovating.
The problem is that companies, including technology multinationals that are committed to building their hubs in Spain, have for years already had a mechanism that certifies whether what they do is research or innovation. A consulting firm, a certifier and the Ministry of Economy participate in it, and the result is a document that should be sufficient from their point of view to clear up doubts.
Artal maintains that Spain has managed to become one of the most interesting countries in fiscal terms for business research, but that the uncertainty about whether or not one is doing things well relegates it in the final classification. “It is one of the most generous countries, but it suffers an increase in fiscal pressure via inspection,” he indicates. “Companies are coming to question whether it is worth taking the deductions.”
Investment in I D i is not a trivial matter: it exceeded 18,000 million euros for the first time in 2022 and is finally taking off strongly. At the end of last year, the Government announced that Spain had overtaken Italy in this area. The investments on which the Treasury puts a magnifying glass can range between 3,000 and 3,500 million euros.
The I D i is one of the three elements that companies can deduct from corporate tax. The other two have to do with disability policies and sports or cultural sponsorships.
Companies can also enjoy bonuses on Social Security contributions of around 4,000 euros per year for three years for each worker they hire to do I D i. This aid is incompatible with tax relief in companies.
