R&D Tax Credit
Maximize Innovation Incentives
ASL helps businesses unlock the full potential of the Research & Development (R&D) Tax Credit, enabling you to reinvest in innovation and growth. Our team of tax professionals works closely with you to identify qualifying activities, document expenses, and ensure compliance with federal and state regulations.
ASL’s team of experienced professionals has a deep knowledge of tax law and industry-specific R&D practices. We provide a customized approach tailored to your business size, industry and innovation goals. Through proactive planning, we integrate R&D credits into your broader tax strategy.
Our services include:
Eligibility Assessment
ASL evaluates your operations to identify qualifying R&D activities under IRS Section 41, including software development, product design, engineering, and process improvements.
Qualified Research Expense (QRE) Analysis
QRE analysis involves identifying and quantifying eligible R&D costs — wages, supplies, contract research, and cloud/software expenses — directly tied to qualified projects. It requires allocating employee time, reviewing financial records, and reconciling with the general ledger to build defensible work-papers for the final credit calculation. ASL performs a detailed review of wages, supplies, and contract research costs to calculate your eligible credit.
Documentation and Substantiation
ASL helps you build robust documentation to support your claim, including project descriptions, employee time tracking, and technical narratives.
Tax Credit Calculation & Filing
We prepare accurate credit calculations and assist with filing IRS Form 6765 and applicable state forms, ensuring timely and compliant submissions.
Audit Defense and Support
In case of IRS or state audits, we provide full support, including technical explanations and documentation to defend your claim.
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Must meet IRS Four-Part Test:
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- Elimination of Uncertainty
- Process of Experimentation
- Technological in Nature
- New or Improved Business Component
- Activities must be conducted in the U.S.
- Exclusions: cosmetic changes, market research, post-production research
- Activities:
- New technology/process development
- Product development
- Continuous improvement projects
- Costs:
- Wages (researchers, supervisors, support staff)
- Supplies (consumed or scrapped)
- Contract research (with economic risk and rights retained)
Some examples of documentation include, project proposals, budgets, design documents, testing results, flow charts, meeting minutes, emails invoices, patent applications, to name a few. It is recommended to attach documentation quarterly with your checklist.
