What is the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG)?
If your business has promoted a product for export, you may be able to claim many of the associated costs from the Australian Government under the EMDG scheme, including expenses incurred in registering your intellectual property overseas. You should not overlook this if you have global aspirations as it is a sizable grant that has proven invaluable to many businesses.
What does the grant cover?
The EMDG Grant covers many promotional expenses, but you can also claim payments made to trade mark attorneys that are attributable to the grant, registration or extension of the term of the registration. If eligible, you will be entitled to 50% of your total eligible expenses in the last financial year minus a $5,000 non-reimbursable threshold amount. If you are making your first claim, you are allowed to include all export spending from the last two financial years.
For example, if you spent $55,000 on intellectual property registrations in the last financial year, the provisional grant entitlement would be $25,000. If this is your first claim, and you spent $65,000 on intellectual property registrations in the last two financial years, the provisional grant entitlement would be $30,000.
Claims for intellectual property registrations can be for up to $50,000 per application, but you may receive a grant of up to $150,000 per application in respect of all your eligible expenses.
What are the requirements for claiming intellectual property expenses?
Some key requirements include:
1. You must promote your product/service for export to residents of other countries;
2. You must not be claiming for expenses incurred in conjunction with sales to North Korea, New Zealand or Iran prior to 17 January 2016;
3. Your trade mark must be owned, assigned or first used in Australia;
4. You or your related entity must own or hold an exclusive assignment to the trade mark;
5. You must have obtained the grant, registration or extension of your intellectual property for the purpose of increasing export sales of your product;
6. Your total expenses claimed must exceed the minimum of $15,000:
- in the last two financial years, for your first claim; or
- in the last financial year for subsequent claims
Further information about the EMDG scheme and requirements can be found here.
We can provide further assistance if you are interested in claiming any of your export costs under the EMDG scheme.
Simply get in touch.
