Wages of staff working on R&D projects ($ a year)

US-based Engineers, developers, designers and the people directly supervising them.

Share of their time spent on qualifying R&D (%)

US contractors and consultants doing R&D for you ($)

Generally 65% of these costs count. Offshore work doesn't qualify.

Prototype materials and supplies used up in R&D ($)

Cloud computing for development and testing ($)

Have you had R&D spending in the last three years?

Average yearly R&D spending over the last three years ($)

A rough figure is fine. Use the same cost types as above.

We have under $5 million in gross receipts and first had receipts within the last five years

Estimated federal R&D Credit

Your annual credit

–

Qualified Research Expenses–

Method–

After the reduced-credit election–

Credit as a share of spending–

Usable against Payroll Tax–

Get an Exact Credit Estimate

Estimates only, using the federal Alternative Simplified Credit. Your actual credit depends on which projects meet the Four-Part Test, your documentation and your tax position. State credits are extra. Not tax advice.

How this estimate works

The calculator adds up your qualified research expenses: the share of wages spent on qualifying R&D, 65% of US contract research, supplies used up in experiments and cloud computing used for development. It then applies the federal Alternative Simplified Credit, which most businesses use: 14% of this year's expenses above half of your average for the previous three years, or 6% of this year's expenses if you had none in those years.

Many businesses take a slightly smaller credit through the reduced-credit election to keep their deductions intact, so we show that figure too. Qualifying start-ups can apply up to $500,000 a year against payroll taxes. Learn more about R&D tax credits.

R&D Tax Credit Calculator

Your annual credit

How this estimate works

Want an exact figure?