Octoberfest at EY – with seminars on tax incentives and sustainability

Welcome to Octoberfest at EY's headquarters in Stockholm! You can opt to join us digitally and enjoy the accompanying seminars – if you don't mind bringing your own pretzel and Bavarian beer.

On October 27, EY has invited SwedenBIO’s member base to a vibrant after work mingle inspired by the German tradition Octoberfest!

In connection with the drinks mingle, they are also treating us to a seminar about grants and tax incentives, another about human-focused sustainability, and a tour around their hyper-modern office building for anyone interested.

Ahead of the event, SwedenBIO asked EY’s Marcel Sikkema, partner, and Victoria Challinor, manager of Innovative Incentives, a couple of questions about their work and why businesses need to know about grants and tax incentives!

Grants and tax incentives seminar

To support the innovative profile of companies in Sweden, there are a number of incentives to be captured, including public funding and tax incentives. These incentives are offered to companies to stimulate Sweden’s capability to create, innovate and expand its scientific and technical expertise and workforce.

To make Sweden an even more attractive investment location, the Swedish government has introduced research and development (R&D) tax incentives – forskningsavdrag – which provides a significant reduction in social security contributions for employees engaged in R&D.

While there is broad awareness of forskningsavdrag in the life sciences community, we often see that companies are not taking full advantage of these benefits – either by under-claiming or not claiming at all. In the case of multinationals, there is also the possibility to maximize the benefits of tax incentives by employing a multi-country approach.

Furthermore, massive potential can be found in public funding, both on a national level as well as through European funding bodies. This funding comes in many different forms, including cash grants and prizes, subsidies, State aid, and more.

Q&A

What does your group work with in EY?

EY’s Innovation Incentives team helps companies across the Nordics to identify and capture incentives in the form of tax relief (such as forskningsavdrag) and cash grants for activities related to R&D, innovation and sustainability.

Which are the commonly most missed opportunities to obtain an incentive that companies are not realizing?

While there is a generally high awareness of incentives like forskningsavdrag in the life sciences community, we find that companies are not always recognizing the full breadth of activities that can be considered R&D and thus leaving significant benefits on the table.

Driving scientific and technical knowledge does not just happen through pure research but also the steps a company may take to develop products or solutions on an ongoing basis. We find that a technical approach to examining all the activities being performed in a company is often the optimal way to ensure the benefit is being claimed in full.

Sign up by October 21

Date: 27/10 2022
Time: 17:30-21:00
Location: EY Client Lounge, floor 11, Hamngatan 26, Stockholm (With option for digital participation.)

This invite is exclusive for SwedenBIO’s members. It’s a hybrid meeting which remote participants can access through a Teams link. All attendees must register in advance.

Register here no later than October 21!