Developments: Supporting Documentation – Guidance

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Nearly 18 months ago, a reminder of the importance of supporting documentation appeared: the release of revised Form T661, “Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Expenditures Claim,” and its companion, revised T4088, “Guide to Form T661.” The revised form requires the claimant to check all applicable boxes describing the types of evidence that supports the SR&ED project, unlike the previous Form T661, which lacked that disclosure.

If the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) selects your SR&ED claim for review, you will be asked to support it by providing evidence that was generated as the SR&ED was being carried out (i.e., generally the CRA will be looking for contemporaneous documentation).

As a claimant, you must identify sufficient information to allow the CRA to understand, at a high level, the:

• Nature of the project from a technological perspective
• Key or major technological challenges faced
• Nature of the major work elements and their relationships
• Scope of the claim