Odpočet na podporu výzkumu a vývoje – novost a jedinečnost výrobků

The Supreme Administrative Court, in its recent ruling (3 Afs 15/2025-46), once again addressed the issue of meeting the conditions for claiming the deduction for research and development support.

The court confirmed that to recognize the deduction for research and development, it is essential to demonstrate the substantive nature of the activities that led to the resulting products. According to the court, it was evident from the entire tax proceedings that the tax administrator lacked documentation of the actual development activities and repeatedly requested the taxpayer to provide this documentation, while the taxpayer (incorrectly) insisted that the tax administrator should deduce this activity from the documentation on their own (possibly with the help of an expert with technical knowledge).

The taxpayer believed that proving the existence of new and unique products was sufficient for claiming the deduction. However, the court stated that the novelty and uniqueness of a product alone do not prove that it is the result of development activities. For it to be considered a result of development activities, the taxpayer would need to demonstrate that their production activities involved new applications of available (existing) knowledge. The evidence presented by the taxpayer did not exclude the possibility that the production of new products utilized knowledge and skills that the taxpayer had already verified and tested in their practice, or that were technically predictable in terms of the methods and technologies used. This deficiency was pointed out to the taxpayer by the administrative authorities, the court, and the expert, which led to the rejection of the claim for the deduction.

If you plan to claim the deduction for research and development, we recommend not only carefully preparing a project that includes the formal requirements set by the Income Tax Act but also thoroughly documenting the nature of the research and development activities.

Authors:

Martin Hladký

Veronika Kruttová