Research tax credit: young PhDs counted double, €10m cap for outsourced research and four-year refund

Article 22 of the 2006 Finance Act amends Articles 199 ter B and 244 quater B of the General Tax Code, with part of its provisions applying to spending from 1 January 2005. Staff costs of PhD holders count double for the twelve months following their first permanent hiring, provided headcount does not fall. The limit on research outsourced to external bodies rises from €2m to €10m where there is no dependency link. Immediate refund of the credit for new companies is extended to the year of creation and the following four years (instead of two). The rate and cap changes of the article apply from 2006.