On 30 September 2010 the Assistant Treasurer, Bill Shorten, introduced the Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2010 and the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2010 into the House of Representatives.

The Bills propose to replace the existing R&D tax concession with a 45 percent refundable R&D tax offset for eligible entities with a turnover of less than $20 million, and a non-refundable 40 percent R&D tax offset for all other entities.

The Bills, if enacted, are intended to apply from 1 July 2010.

The Government amendments, circulated for introduction in the previous Parliament, have also been incorporated into theTax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2010. These amendments relate to the implementation of recommendation 1 and 2 of the Senate Economics Legislation Committee report.

The Bills and Explanatory Memorandum for the Tax Laws Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2010 and the Income Tax Rates Amendment (Research and Development) Bill 2010 are available on the Parliament of Australia website.

The Bills will not be considered by the House of Representatives until its next scheduled sitting day on 18 October 2010. The Senate next sits on 25 October 2010.