Research and development tax incentive in the Czech Republic and Croatia
Keywords:
development, Czech Republik, Croatia, tax incentive, R&D, researchAbstract
Each Member State of the European Union decides on its indirect support for research
and development. For this reason, support differs very substantially among countries, not only in
terms of the level of support but above all in terms of the process for granting support, the areas
supported, the protection of know-how, and the legal certainty for taxpayers regarding R&D tax
incentives. This article aims to identify positive legal support elements for indirect R&D support in
Croatia and the Czech Republic based on the main criteria of their applicability in practice and decide
which country provides more attractive indirect R&D support for beneficiaries. These findings
may lead legislators to improve the legal regulation of indirect support for R&D in individual EU
Member States and help beneficiaries to decide where to conduct their R&D. The Czech Republic
and Croatia were chosen because they are comparably sized post-communist countries, but they have
very different approaches to indirect R&D support. The article provides the most important information
on the process of application of indirect support, their most important design elements, and
a comparison of legislation in these two countries. Finally, de lege ferenda proposals are suggested to
improve the current R&D tax incentives in the Czech Republic and Croatia.
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