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5 Common Myths About the R&D Tax Credit

  • August 9, 2019

Despite an overall increase in R&D Tax Credit claims by US businesses, many companies are still not reaping the full benefits of R&D tax credits.

The main reason most companies don’t realize that the R&D Tax Credit can benefit their business is that they think they don't qualify. 

Myth 1. You’re not eligible for R&D Tax Credits unless you wear a white coat and work in a laboratory.

MYTH! Companies from multiple sectors can be eligible for R&D Tax Credits. Some examples are biotechnology (where they may wear lab coats), manufacturing, software, food and agriculture, engineering, renewable energy, and more. If you are working in hard science and face technical uncertainty in achieving a specific objective, you could very well be doing R&D.

Myth Two: You can only claim the R&D Tax Credit if your project was successful. 

You can claim R&D Tax Credits for any eligible R&D project, whether there was a successful outcome or not. In fact, failure can be a good sign of eligibility – what can be more uncertain than a seemingly impossible project?

Myth Three: You can only claim R&D Tax Credits for your current tax year.

You can make a retroactive claim for any open tax years if the statute of limitations has not passed. This means companies new to the Tax Credit can still go back and claim for older projects rather than missing out.

Myth Four: Claiming R&D Tax Credits is hard.

Ok, sort of a myth. It can be a complicated process that requires knowledge of your business operations (easy for you!) but also an in-depth knowledge of the R&D Tax Credit legislation and case law, US Treasury Regulations, and the ever-changing tax code (not so easy!). But you can cut out the difficult part by enlisting the help of an R&D Tax Credit expert (ABGi USA of course!) who can take on the hard work for you.

Myth Five: All R&D Tax Credit experts are the same.

This is absolutely a myth! What sets ABGi USA apart is the fact that our business component approach makes the process much easier on our clients. ABGi USA almost always finds more credits than other providers due to the extensive knowledge and industry experience of our team. The Senior Project Managers you work with today, will be working with you year after year. We don’t have massive turnover like our competitors and this consistency develops institutional knowledge that makes recurring studies even easier on our clients.

Who is ABGi?

We are tax incentive experts who geek out over tax complexities and nuances.   

We have over 30 years of experience working with American businesses to reduce their tax liability by maximizing tax incentives that stimulate business growth, innovation, and advancement. Our expertise allows us to understand the minute details of tax code law and business sector activities that result in qualifying tax incentive programs.

Our approach to work is streamlined and efficient, minimizing client disruption while producing quality, compliant results that operate within the IRS’s ever-changing guidelines.

ABGi, part of Visiativ, is a publicly-traded company; our business practices are reviewed annually, adding a level of compliance unseen in this industry. We stand behind our work, which is why all our work includes total audit defense at no additional cost.  

Talk to one of our experts today and get all your section 174 questions answered. 

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