Double Taxation

Milestone Payments

Milestone Payments

We have all heard the term milestone payment in the life science field. Generally, milestone payments are made under a collaboration agreement upon the completion of a successful stage of research. These payments are generally deductible for financial accounting purposes. However, these payments are generally capitalized and amortized in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service.

The Internal Revenue Code generally allows a deduction for all ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during a taxable year on carrying on a trade or business. However, expenditures that create or develop an asset with a useful life beyond the taxable year must be capitalized rather than expensed in the year paid.

The Internal Revenue Service believes that milestone payments relate to the acquisition or creation of intangibles and thus should be capitalized and amortized. They are generally amortizable over the life of the agreement, the remaining life of the patent or 15 years.

Authored by Stephen Talkowsky

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