SR&ED Program Service Standards
The objective of the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program is to deliver the SR&ED tax credit in a timely, consistent, and predictable manner, while encouraging taxpayers engaged in research and development (R&D) to prepare their claims in compliance with tax laws, policies, and procedures.
Note
If you sent a complete SR&ED claim (refundable or non-refundable) before April 1, 2018, the previous service standards will apply. See Service standards for the SR&ED program before April 1, 2018.
Service standards
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has the following service standards for processing SR&ED claims:
- All claims which have been accepted as filed will be processed within 60 calendar days of the date we receive a complete claim.
- Refundable claims selected for review/audit will be completed within 180 calendar days of the date we receive a complete claim.
Our commitment to you
The CRA is committed to meeting the service standards 90% of the time.
Find out standard processing times
With the Check CRA Processing Times tool, you can quickly find out when you can expect us to complete your request or get back to you. To use the tool, select the relevant information from the drop-down menus, and it will display a target time for your request to be done or the length of time we expect it will take, based on our service standards.
Success rate
The CRA’s annual results are published in its Departmental Results Reports. The CRA’s success in meeting the standards is measured by the percentage of claims processed within the standards. CRA processing time is the number of calendar days it takes for the CRA to process a claim from the time a complete claim is filed to the time the review/audit is finished, not including delays outside of the CRA's control.
Situations outside of the CRA's control that may lead to delays in processing SR&ED claims include:
- an incomplete claim is filed;
- an SR&ED claim is filed without the associated income tax return;
- cases where there is no communication in response to the CRA's requests for information or to a CRA proposal letter;
- cases where the claimant postpones or is unable to schedule meetings with the CRA;
- cases where a CRA review/audit of a previous-year SR&ED claim(s) affect a current-year claim.