The Ministry of Education and Science proposes to improve the accounting of research and development

To increase the efficiency of spending on scientific research using budget funds and tax benefits, the Ministry of Education and Science proposes to improve the procedure for recording scientific work. Information about them must be contained in the unified state information system for recording research, development and technological work for civil purposes (USISU R&D), and the system will also include a separate list of scientific works, tax expenses for which are provided for by an increased coefficient of 1.5, and reports about their implementation. The assessment of their compliance with the tasks of the Ministry of Education and Science proposes to be assigned to the Russian Academy of Sciences and carried out at the expense of applicants for benefits.

The Ministry of Education and Science has developed two draft government regulations as part of the preparation of a regulatory framework aimed at increasing the efficiency of government spending on science. The first provides for changes in the processes of providing information to the Unified State Institute of Public Health and Research and Development and conducting examinations by the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) of projects on scientific topics. The second establishes the rules for confirming compliance with the tasks of completed scientific work, the costs of which are allowed to be deducted from the tax base of companies with an increased coefficient of 1.5. Both documents are posted on the regulation.gov.ru portal.

EGISU R&D should become the basis of the management system for scientific research, which is carried out with the involvement of budget funding. It is assumed that this system should provide the authorities with data for a more accurate understanding of the current state of Russian science and increase the efficiency of its budget financing (see Kommersant on January 16). Among the proposals of the Ministry of Education and Science to change the provision of information to the system is to give federal authorities the right to approve forms for submitting additional information that take into account industry-specific characteristics of work, as well as industry-specific characteristics of technology readiness levels and rubricators, in order to bring customers closer to performers. In addition, it is proposed to regulate which users of the unified information system are authorized to submit draft scientific topics for examination to the RAS and the deadlines for their submission. The document also expands the publicity of government spending on science – it contains requirements for posting expert opinions on draft scientific topics in relation to work involving budget money outside of government assignments, as well as the timing of their publication. We are talking, in particular, about work planned within the framework of agreements on the provision of subsidies and grants, contracts for the performance of work or the provision of services, etc. At the same time with the Russian Academy of Sciences, it is proposed to remove the obligation of annual examination of projects of scientific topics – now the procedure requires an annual examination even with positive conclusion in the first year of project implementation.

The second draft describes the procedure for confirming the compliance of completed scientific work and R&D with the list of topics for which the government allows expenses to be deducted from the tax base with an increasing factor of 1.5. The list itself was approved by government decree No. 988 of December 24, 2008 and includes a wide range of areas – from nanotechnology and communication technologies to biotechnology, environmental, space, nuclear, transport and energy-saving developments. The RAS will also become the expert body ensuring the organization of the assessment of reports on such work, and the procedure will be carried out under an agreement with the taxpayer “on a reimbursable basis” (the project does not contain links to tariffs), and to complete it, those wishing to receive a tax benefit will need to download a report on work in the personal account of the Unified State Institute of Information Technology and Research and Development at least two months before the start of the tax period in which it is expected to receive the benefit.

Venera Petrova