DesignSingapore Council announced a new tax incentive scheme to encourage Singapore companies to adopt design innovation, entitled the "Productivity and Innovation Credit for Investments in Design" (PIC for Design).
The "PIC for Design" is part of the "Productivity and Innovation Credit" announced in the Singapore Budget 2010 which provides significant tax deductions for investments in a broad range of activities along the innovation value chain, including design.
The scheme, which will be administered by the DesignSingapore Council (Dsg), aims to encourage pervasive and continuous design innovation in companies in Singapore.
The "PIC for Design" will be available for five years, from the Years of Assessment (YA) 2011 to 2015.
To qualify for the Scheme, the design project must be related to industrial and product design activities and result in the final design of a physical product.
The design project must also result in the creation of new intellectual property registered with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS) in the forms of registered design or patented invention.
In addition, the design project must follow through an entire design process and must be conducted and completed in Singapore within two years.