Ms. Anna Sánchez

Her academic training includes a variety of programmes focussed on the managing director's role and on business administration and management.

She holds a Master's Degree in Public Authority Management from Barcelona's ESADE Business School; a Higher Telecommunications Technical Engineer's (Sound and Image Specialist's) Diploma from Barcelona Polytechnical University; and an Electronic Systems Technical Engineer's Diploma from Ramon Llull University, also in Barcelona.

At present she is Director General of the Agency for Accreditation in Research, Development and Technological Innovation and Associate Professor in Barcelona Polytechnical University's Business Organization Department. She also sits on various Research- and Innovation-related Committees at the National Accreditation Organization, the Spanish Standards Association, and the Chamber of Commerce, amongst others.

Tax credits for innovation

Leisure and tourism are turning into complex activities with multiple individual, social, economic, technological, urban and environmental implications that require dedicated management tools. In order to take up these new opportunities, the development of leisure and tourism products calls for a firm commitment to innovation in all senses.

Of all the public instruments that support technological research and innovation activities, the Spanish tax incentives system is one of the most worthwhile. At present, under the tax incentives system – Act 35/2006, additional provision twenty – businesses have two ways available to them for making their investment in R&D&i pay for itself:
 Tax deductions for R&D and technological innovation, which allow businesses to offset up to 59% of their R&D&i expenditure against their Corporation Tax.

 A reduction in employer's Social Security contributions for research personnel, which enables companies to have their employer's contributions for their personnel engaged exclusively in R&D&i activities reduced by 40%.

The processes of certifying R&D&i projects and research personnel, together with the processing of the company’s report and supporting evidence by the Ministry of Science and Innovation, mean that the taxpayer can apply this financial support on a sure basis.

During the talk we shall examine the tax incentives for R&D and innovation; the use of law-based safety tools for their application; and the available certification systems together with their logical arrangement, coined as “The 3Ps of excellence in innovation®”: the philosophy of work promoted by the Agency for Credentials in Research, Development and Innovation, which ensures that innovation is integrated into the business strategy by measuring the excellence of the company’s R&D&i projects, personnel and processes.