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To stimulate research investment in the United States, Congress initially provisioned a general business tax credit under Internal Revenue Code section 41 in conjunction with The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981. Although the most substantial investment in research and development is a company’s people (and subsequently their wages), the supplies they use to create, […]

A contract research expense is paid or incurred for the performance of qualified research to the extent it is paid or incurred pursuant to an agreement that (i) is entered into prior to the performance of the qualified research, (ii) provides research be performed on behalf of the taxpayer (taxpayer retains substantial rights to the […]

The R&D tax credit code and regulations do not specify record-keeping requirements. However, the guidance provided to taxpayers is that they must retain documentation to substantiate the credits being claimed. Project documentation is used to demonstrate the qualified nature of research activities. To qualify for the R&D tax credit, a project must: 1) relate to […]

Taxpayers must be engaged in carrying on a trade or business for in-house research expenses or contract research expenses to qualify for R&D tax credit consideration.  This is an issue that bears consideration as start-up companies pursue R&D tax credits. The “trade or business” and “in carrying on” requirements for research credit purposes are generally […]

Taxpayers must meet the process of experimentation “substantially all” test for each R&D project. In the case of Little Sandy Coal Co. Inc. v. Commissioner, the court held a taxpayer was not entitled to the R&D tax credit for activities related to the development of a tanker and a dry dock.  The court determined the […]

Taxpayers should be able to document how an R7d project meets all qualification requirements In the case of Siemer Milling Company v. Commissioner, the court held a taxpayer engaged in the business of milling and selling wheat flour was not entitled to the R&D tax credit.  The court examined seven projects, all related to the […]

Taxpayers should have strong defensible support to rely on time estimates In 1985, Efrem Fudim formed Light Sculpting Co. and innovated a process that became known as rapid modelling. It utilizes ultraviolet light and light-sensitive liquid polymers to fabricate plastic objects directly from instructions provided by a computer-aided design system. Mr. Fudim employed his wife […]

Taxpayers must retain substantial rights to research results to claim R&D tax credits In the case of Tangel v. Commissioner, the court held the taxpayer was not entitled to the R&D tax credit because it did not retain substantial rights to the research it performed.  The court analyzed the terms and conditions of the contract […]

Taxpayers must maintain and document base period detail for R&D credit calculations In the case of Research, Inc. v. United States of America, the court held Research, Inc. was not entitled to additional R&D tax credits for its tax year ending September 20, 1985, due to failure to accurately reflect its base period qualified research […]