Estimate Your
R&D Tax Credit
In Minutes
See how much your business may be eligible to claim. Our
streamlined calculator and experienced advisors make it easy
to identify opportunities and maximize available credits.
Estimate Your
R&D Tax Credit
In Minutes
See how much your business may be eligible to claim. Our streamlined calculator and experienced advisors make it easy to identify opportunities and maximize available credits.
What Is The R&D Tax Credit?
The R&D Tax Credit provides a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your tax liability for solving real business challenges – testing new approaches, improving processes, and refining products.
KEY BENEFITS
- Lower taxes & increased cash flow
- Claim retroactively for 3 prior tax years
- Over 12 industries qualify, from Software to Manufacturing
- Reduce innovation costs and fuel future growth
What Qualifies for
R&D Tax Credits?
Your Manufacturing Innovation may qualify for R&D tax credit,
this can include:
Find out how much you
can save
Fill out our 60-second questionnaire. A certified R&D tax specialist will review your parameters and provide a primary estimate within 24 hours.
How Does The Research & Development
Tax Credit Work?
STEP 1
Identify Qualified Manufacturing Activities
Look for work to develop or improve products, processes, formulas, tooling, machinery, or production methods through experimentation.
STEP 2
Determine Qualified Research Expenses
Review eligible costs such as employee wages, supplies, prototype materials, contractor costs, and testing-related expenses.
STEP 3
Apply as a Dollar-for-Dollar Reduction
Use the credit to reduce tax liability, carry forward unused amounts if needed, and file with supporting documentation.
Real Results. Measurable Growth.
This company was challenged with overcoming original design flaws of a half-bore. The experimentation process led to a two-part clamped fixture. After 31 different prototypes, they were able to move forward with the production part approval process.
During a particularly difficult product design that involved lengthy trial and error, a team of precision engineers discovered a new manufacturing process for a half bore using a clamp and a custom fixture. Another challenge tasked the company’s precision machinists with improving a part that had four difficult- to-produce ports due to the double-angle seal at the top.
This company designed and manufactured a skidded, structural steel trap for one of their customers in the oil and gas industry. The steel trap was required to have a volume of 28 gallons to comply with customer specifications. The component also had to meet ASME and AWS compliance standards and was designed and manufactured so that it could be assembled in the fields.
A Trusted Partner for Strategic Growth
With over 25 years of experience, alliant has a proven track record of serving 45K businesses and securing more than $16B+ in federal and state tax credits, incentives and deductions.
Guided by a Strategic Board that includes six former IRS Commissioners and the nation’s top policy leaders, we help businesses unlock capital, mitigate risk, and turn innovation into real financial advantage.
What industries qualify for the R&D tax credit?
Traditional “R&D” industries, such as engineering and software development, are only the tip of the iceberg for the types of companies that can claim the R&D Tax Credit. Industries that can qualify for the credit include:
- Aerospace
- Agriculture
- Automotive
- Building System Controls
- Chemical
- Engineering
- Food & Beverage
- Life Sciences
- Manufacturing
- Metals
- Oil & Gas
- Software
What activities qualify for the R&D tax credit?
To qualify for the R&D Credit, your activities must meet all elements of the four-part test:
- Development or improvement of business components, such as products, processes, software, techniques, inventions, or formulas, held for sale, lease, or license
- Technological in nature, i.e. rooted in a hard science such as physics, biology, computer science, or engineering
- Elimination of technical uncertainty related to functional elements of a business component’s design, excluding non-scientific areas such as marketing or consumer preference
- Process of experimentation to resolve technical uncertainty – even iterative trial-and-error can qualify
How to claim the R&D tax credit?
The formal claim process requires submitting IRS Form 6765 (Credit for Increasing Research Activities) with your company’s annual tax return. You can also claim credits for prior open tax years through amended returns.
Recent changes to Form 6765 require you to provide a basis for qualification, highlighting how you arrived at the claimed credit value and how activities were tied to projects. Working with experienced professionals ensures you’re presenting the proper documentation of your research activities, which can include employee time tracking, design documentation, testing reports, and financial records.
How far back can you claim R&D tax credits?
Companies can typically claim R&D tax credits for the current tax year plus the previous three tax years. This lookback period allows businesses to recover previously unclaimed credits, but only within a specified timeframe.
Does alliant work with CPAs?
Yes, we have partnered with over 4,500 CPA firms to provide comprehensive R&D tax credit services. We work collaboratively with accounting professionals to ensure proper documentation, compliance, and maximum benefit for their clients while maintaining the highest professional standards.
WHITEPAPER
The R&D Tax Credit: Driving Innovation & Job Creation
© Copyright 2012-2026
