The Research and Development (R&D) tax credit, also known as Research and Experimentation (R&E) tax credit is a United States government sponsored tax initiative. It results in a dollar for dollar reduction in a company’s tax liabilities and is one of the best things American businesses can do to reduce their liability tax. Companies can submit documentation to file using the IRS Form 6765. The research and experimentation tax credit was essentially designed as an incentive to make research activities more affordable for businesses, strengthening American innovation.

Many businesses are not aware if they actually meet eligibility qualifications. Some believe there are special rules needed to qualify. While the correct documentation is required, in reality, over 60 industries can qualify for R&D credit in over 30 states, to offset tax liabilities. Some businesses’ daily operations can even qualify them, allowing them to receive basic research credit if it puts them over a certain base amount. Even start-ups can use this to their advantage.

Here are some of the factors small businesses and large businesses alike must be doing to qualify:

Create new or innovative products
Change existing products
Create new processes, techniques, prototypes, or software development
Hire engineers and designers for internal use or contract research to complete the job

To file, you must claim some of the credit as a payroll tax credit against the employer section of your social security taxes. It is calculated based on the increases in research expenditures and activities. Small businesses can even use R&D credit to offset payroll taxes of a current tax year if their expenditures are greater than a certain base amount. Companies can no longer expense costs identified as IRC Section 174 research expenses. Instead, these expenses are charged to a capital account and deducted over 5-years.