Common misconceptions why businesses assume they don't qualify for the R&D Tax Credit

When many taxpayers think of “Research & Development,” they think of white lab coats, scientists, chemistry, and beakers. Fortunately for the U.S. taxpayer, the definition of R&D is much broader for tax purposes. As a result, many taxpayers and business owners do not realize that they qualify for R&D credits.

For example, the owner of an injection molding or aerospace component manufacturer may not realize that their time and effort spent in developing and honing a manufacturing process to achieve specifications or tolerances for a component product qualifies for the Research & Development tax credit.

The R and D tax credit should really be named the “U.S. Technical Jobs Credit,” which would be more informative and indicative of the congressional intent behind the credit.