claiming the r&d tax credit (the right way)
how to save clients money while staying off the irs ‘dirty dozen’ list.
a conversation with randy crabtree, cpa
randy crabtree is co-founder and partner of tri-merit specialty tax professionals, a widely followed author, lecturer, and the host of “the unique cpa” podcast.
under new rules, taxpayers filing a valid r&d tax credit claim for refund under irc 41 must provide, at minimum, five essential pieces of “contemporaneous documentation.”
here crabtree addresses a few of the biggest questions.
the new rules include:
- all business components that form the factual basis of the r&d tax credit claim for the claim year.
- all research activities performed by business component (i.e., this must include a description of what the taxpayer did, and how they did it, by business component).
- all individuals who performed each research activity by business component. (i.e., this can be a list, table, or narrative but must include the first and last name, and the title/position of the person or persons engaged in the r&d by business component).
- all the information each individual sought to discover by business component. (i.e., this can be a list, table, or narrative providing the information each individual sought to discover).
- the total qualified expenses of employee wage expenses, supply expenses, and contract research expenses.
question: randy, why is the irs suddenly clamping down on those claiming the r&d tax credit? has there been a spike in fraud?
pro members: 
irs, losing staff it can’t replace, slides further into chaos and oblivion.
sound-off: how would accountants fix the irs? 
