That being said, I do think there's a little sloppiness in what is categorized as "R&D" in the software development. Is code maintenance R&D? Bug fixes? Performance improvements? Is it a "capital asset" no longer under R&D once it hits production? This aspect has always seemed too gray given how much money is at stake in taxes.
But again, this complexity is an advantage for more established firms with legal departments and the infrastructure in place to document everything in order to handle audits. Which, in my view, is a form of regulatory capture; this presentation of symptoms of regulatory capture is pretty common.
One potential argument I can see is that maybe this balances out since presumably the more established firms would have less "R&D" as a fraction of expenses to deduct in the first place?
Edited to fix some typos and clarity.
I just won’t even waste my time with the google stuff cuz I can’t figure out how to pay with it.
And that’s a problem everywhere at google. Our google play account is suspended cuz I can’t verify the company. It won’t let me cuz it says I’m not the owner. I’ve always been the owner of my company. For 18 years. There is no one else.
Once some error said make sure the owner email matches your profile in google payments and I was like, what is google payments and where do I even begin with that? I’ve never paid for google play so what does payments have to do with anything?
It’s totally random stuff. Get your shit together, google. Make your products and payment systems coherent, rather than it obviously looking like it was designed by a fiefdom full of territorial managers.