R&D Tax Credit Feasibility Review
Before you pay for an expensive study, find out whether your activities may actually qualify. We screen your development work and expenses against the federal research-credit tests and deliver a written suitability summary from an Enrolled Agent: a flat $750, credited toward the next step if you proceed.
Free. No commitment. We assess your situation in 15 minutes.
Enrolled Agent4.7 / 5.0 – 15 Google ReviewsFederally Authorized by U.S. Treasury
What's Included
- Structured interview about your development activities
- Screening against the four-part test (Section 41)
- High-level review of candidate expense categories
- Payroll tax offset eligibility screening for qualifying small businesses
- Written suitability summary from an Enrolled Agent
- Clear go / no-go recommendation with next-step scope and pricing
Timeline: Written summary delivered within 10 business days of your intake interview
Not included:
- Quantified credit estimate (deep feasibility engagement)
- Full R&D credit study and documentation (quoted per case)
- Amended returns or credit claims
What Happens After You Purchase
- 1Secure checkout via Stripe
- 2Portal invitation within 1 hour
- 3Upload your documents securely
- 4Prepared and delivered by an Enrolled Agent
"This is the third consecutive year I've filed taxes with Burak, and it has always been an amazing experience and relief."
- Francesco F.
A Disciplined First Look at the Research Credit
The federal research credit can be one of the most valuable incentives available to businesses that build things: software, hardware, formulations, processes. It is also one of the most oversold. Aggressive promoters pitch large credits to businesses whose activities were never evaluated against the actual legal tests.
This review takes the opposite approach. We interview you about your development work, screen your activities and expense categories against the four-part test in the tax code, and give you a written suitability summary from an Enrolled Agent. The conclusion is honest either way: a clear case for going deeper, or a clear explanation of why the credit is not a fit today.
Payroll Tax Offset for Startups
Federal law allows qualifying small businesses to elect to apply a portion of the research credit against employer payroll taxes rather than income tax. For early-stage companies that are not yet profitable, that election can make the credit relevant years before the first profitable return. The review screens whether your business may qualify for the election.
Feasibility Review
- Structured development-activity interview
- Four-part test screening (Section 41)
- Candidate expense category review
- Payroll tax offset eligibility screening
- Written suitability summary from an Enrolled Agent
- Go / no-go recommendation with next-step pricing
The Four-Part Test We Screen Against
Federal law defines qualified research with four requirements. An activity must satisfy all four - and the review measures your actual work against each one.
Permitted Purpose
The work must aim to create or improve the functionality, performance, reliability, or quality of a product, process, software, technique, formula, or invention.
Technological in Nature
The activity must fundamentally rely on principles of the hard sciences: engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry, or biology.
Elimination of Uncertainty
At the outset, there must be genuine uncertainty about capability, method, or appropriate design - not just routine implementation of a known solution.
Process of Experimentation
Substantially all of the activity must involve evaluating alternatives: modeling, simulation, systematic trial and error, prototyping, or testing.
From Screening to Study: A Staged Approach
You only move to the next stage when the previous one supports it. No pressure, no oversized commitments.
Feasibility Review
Screening of your activities and expenses against the four-part test, with a written suitability summary and a go / no-go recommendation.
Deep Feasibility
A deeper engagement that maps qualifying projects, gathers expense data, and produces a quantified estimate of the potential credit range so you can decide on a full study with real numbers.
Full R&D Credit Study
Complete documentation of qualified research activities and expenses, credit computation, and filing support. Scoped and quoted individually after deep feasibility - never sold off the shelf.
The full study is quoted per case based on the number of projects, years, and expense complexity identified in deep feasibility. No stage guarantees a credit or a specific amount.
Common Candidate Activities
These types of work frequently raise the question of whether the research credit applies. Only a screening against the four-part test can say whether yours may qualify.
Software Development
Building new applications, platforms, algorithms, or architectures where the design or method was genuinely uncertain at the outset - not routine maintenance or configuration.
Engineering
Designing and testing new or improved products, components, manufacturing processes, or tooling through prototyping, modeling, or systematic iteration.
Product Formulation
Developing new formulations, materials, or recipes in food, cosmetics, chemicals, or supplements where alternatives were evaluated through structured testing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about this service area.
Related Guides
Learn more about this topic with our in-depth guides.
Small Business Tax Guide
Deductions, credits, and compliance essentials for small business owners.
Read GuideOne Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) Guide
Key 2026 tax law changes, including the treatment of research and experimental expenditures.
Read GuideCPA vs. Enrolled Agent
Understanding tax credentials and who can represent you before the IRS.
Read GuideRelated Services
Explore other ways we support our clients.
Tax Planning
Year-round strategy to coordinate credits, elections, and entity structure before deadlines arrive.
Learn MoreBusiness Tax
Business tax return preparation for corporations, S corporations, and partnerships.
Learn MoreBookkeeping
Clean books make credit documentation easier: monthly bookkeeping with project-level expense tracking.
Learn MoreFind Out Before You Commit
A full R&D credit study is a serious investment. Spend $750 first to learn whether your activities may qualify - and put that fee toward the next step if they do.
“This is the third consecutive year I've filed taxes with Burak, and it has always been an amazing experience and relief.”– Francesco F., Google Review
Both reach the same Enrolled Agent review. After either one, you'll receive a secure Client Portal invitation to upload your documents.