Tax Incentives for Innovation in Brazil: Obstacles for Use of the Good Law (Law 11.196/2005)

Abstract

Brazil has a mix of instruments to support research and development activities, including grants and tax incentives. Among these policies, it is referred to the Law 11.196/05. According as the historical series, since the implementation of the law, the number of companies using the benefits has grown exponentially, but the number of beneficiaries is still very low. This article presents the results of the study with a group of 100 companies. The objective was to verify the innovation management practices used by these companies, as well as the main obstacles encountered by them to make use of tax incentives of the Good Law. The results showed that the biggest obstacle for use of the Good Law is the profile of the innovation projects. Companies need to actually differentiate improvement projects of the innovation projects. The minority of companies develop projects that exceed scientific or technological boundaries or having aspects out of the company's development scope.