Industry leaders propose AIM Incentive to boost innovation

Australian industry leaders have proposed an Australian Innovation & Manufacturing (AIM) Incentive in submissions to the Senate’s inquiry into Australia’s innovation system.

The proposed AIM Incentive encourages companies to commercialise IP in and from Australia. The incentive works by providing a reduction in the tax payable on profits derived from the commercialisation of qualifying intellectual property (IP) (mainly, patents or licences to patents) in Australia.

A group representing many of Australia’s leading innovators, manufacturers and exporters, including AusBiotech, Cook Medical Australia, the Export Council of Australia and the Medical Technology Association of Australia, collectively devised the proposed AIM Incentive and are looking to the government to channel it into the National Industry Investment and Competitiveness Agenda.

Dr Anna Lavelle, CEO of AusBiotech, said: “The AIM Incentive not only has the potential for employment creation, but it will also facilitate investment back into Australian businesses. We have proposed the AIM Incentive to support local innovators and manufacturers, so they can maintain their global competitiveness and cultivate domestic innovation, all while attracting the commercialisation of additional international IP to Australia.”

Ian Murray, executive chairman of The Export Council of Australia, commented: “Australian manufacturers and exporters have been presented with numerous challenges in recent years. We believe the implementation of the proposed AIM Incentive would be a viable solution for manufacturers to continually operate in and export from Australia.”

Susi Tegen, chief executive of the Medical Technology Association of Australia, said: “The proposed AIM Incentive supports Australian ideas being commercialised and manufactured locally, with the aim of growing the export market. The benefits of AIM would also attract international patents and IP to Australia, providing a positive environment for MedTech innovation.”

Barry Thomas, MD of Cook Medical Australia, commented: “If we are to maximise Australia’s global reputation for outstanding innovation, it is vital that the existing R&D Tax Incentive is complemented with an end-to-end tax regime that can secure Australia’s competitiveness for the future. The AIM Incentive will help innovative industries in Australia, and in doing so the economy will benefit from higher employment, increased tax receipts, lower welfare costs and increased investment from overseas.”

There are currently nine markets in the world, including the UK, France, Switzerland and China, that have already adopted similar ‘patent’ or ‘innovation box’-style tax incentive policies.

For more information, see http://www.ausbiotech.org/reports/.