How do we assess the applications?

SkatteFUNN is a rights-based scheme. This means that all projects that meet the criteria will be approved. The project must be clearly described in the application, so that we have a good basis for assessing it.

The criteria by which we assess the project:
 

 

New goods, services or production processes

In the application, you must describe which new or improved goods, services or production processes you want to develop or improve. Describe what's new and how it differs from what's already on the market today. The product as a whole does not have to be new.

If you are going to use known knowledge in a new way or in new areas, you must describe the challenges and what they will result in.

How do you match the criterion

  • It is important to describe what is new to the industry, and not just what is new to the company.
  • It must be clear how the product/service/production process differs from what is available in the market.  
  • What you are going to develop must differ so clearly from existing solutions in the market that an end user experiences the result of the project as something new.
  • If you are going to use known knowledge in a completely new way, or in a completely new area, it must be clear how you are going to use it.
  • The project cannot only be optimization and adaptations of the available product/service/production process without R&D content.
  • If your company has received support from SkatteFUNN before, the new project must be a significant new development compared to what you have received support for previously.
 

New knowledge or skills

A SkatteFUNN project must address an R&D challenge (research question) that has no known solution today and that requires research and innovation (R&D) to solve. In the application, you must describe how you will proceed systematically to obtain new knowledge or new skills that will provide answers to what is uncertain and difficult.

How do you match the criterion

  • It must be clear what the R&D challenge is in the project. This is a problem or challenge that has no known solution in the industry today that you have to use research and innovation to figure out.
  • You must describe how you will proceed systematically to solve the challenge and generate new knowledge. This is the method.
  • It must also be clearly stated which activities you will carry out in order to develop new knowledge through the project.
  • You must also describe what new knowledge the project will result in. The knowledge must be new to both the company and the industry.
  • It must be made clear that what you will be doing in the project is not ordinary company-oriented product development.
  • If your company has received support from SkatteFUNN before, you must show that the project for which you are now applying for funding contains new knowledge or skills compared to what you have received support for previously.
  • When you enter what you will do in the project and what costs you will have, it is important to only enter activities and costs that relate to research and innovation. You do this in the work packages on the Plan and budget page of the application form (video). Not all types of activities can receive support.
  • The work packages must either be categorised as experimental development or industrial research.
 

Targeted and delimited

A SkatteFUNN project must have a goal that is clearly described. The goal must be designed so that it will be possible to give an answer afterwards as to whether the goal has been achieved or to what extent it has been achieved. The project must have a plan and a budget that is delimited and adapted to what the project will achieve during the project period.

How do you match the criterion

  • In the application, you must clearly describe the goal of the project. The goal should be formulated in such a way that it is possible to provide an answer to whether and to what extent the goal has been achieved. There are many who are rejected because it is not possible to identify a aclear and evaluable goal and to see how this is also delimited in relation to operations.
  • Clearly state how work packages/sub-goals are connected to the main goal. We assess whether the plan and budget are adapted and limited to what the project is to achieve during the project period.
  • Do not include other work packages/sub-goals (and activities) than those that are necessary to achieve the main goal.

   
The role of the Research Council

Applications to SkatteFUNN are assessed by professional advisers with expertise in the field in which the application is made. The Research Council assesses the content of the project and decides whether it meets the criteria for SkatteFUNN.

Applications are processed in chronological order according to the date of submission. If you submit your application before 1 September, we guarantee that the application will be processed so that you will receive a tax deduction for the year you submit the application. If the application is not processed until after the New Year, we will not be able to grant approval for the year in which the application was made.

As part of the application processing, we may request that you submit an adjusted application. Many projects are approved with limitations. This may be that one or more work packages are not included in the approval, or that approved project years are reduced compared to what has been applied for.

The role of the Tax Administration

The Norwegian Tax Administration assesses and decides on the company's submitted claim for a tax deduction, which you submit via the tax return. The accounts that form the basis for the deductions must be approved by an auditor. It is the tax administration that has the authority and expertise in questions about what costs can be included in the project.


Messages at time of print 10 October 2024, 23:09 CEST

Important alert

For the calls with application deadline at midnight 16 October, including Innovation Project for the Industrial Sector, we manage the hotline +47 22 03 72 00 Monday 14 October, Tuesday 15 October and Wednesday 16 October at 08:00–15:45.