FAQs
The questions firms actually ask.
Everything below is what we'd tell you on a first call. If your question isn't here, it's a short conversation away.
Working with TaxCreditVisor
What's the difference between the referral and white-label partnership?
In a referral partnership you make the introduction and TaxCreditVisor delivers the study in its own name, and you earn a referral fee on completed work. In a white-label partnership the study, the deliverables and the correspondence all carry your firm's brand: you pay partner rates and set the client-facing fee yourself. The work, the team and the study are identical either way. The difference is whose logo is on it and who owns the client conversation.
Will TaxCreditVisor try to win my client's accounting or tax work?
No. A client introduced through the partnership receives R&D tax credit services from TaxCreditVisor and nothing else. We don't pitch, quote or accept accounting, bookkeeping, tax preparation, payroll or advisory work from your clients, and an inbound request for any of it comes back to you as a warm introduction. This is in the partnership agreement, not just on this page.
Who owns the client relationship?
You do. Your firm remains the client's accountant and primary adviser throughout. We coordinate with you before contacting the client, keep you copied on scope, findings and delivery, and return the finished work through your firm.
Who signs and files the credit forms?
Your firm continues to prepare and sign the client's return. We deliver the completed study, the credit computation and the prepared Form 6765 package, including the Section G business-component detail required from TY2024. We're available for questions while you file.
How are fees structured?
Every study is quoted as a fixed fee after a short scoping call, before any work begins. Referral partners earn a fee on completed studies; white-label partners pay partner rates and set their own client-facing pricing. We'll walk through the specific numbers on the first call. They depend on the model you choose and the shape of your client base.
What does my firm actually have to do?
Very little. Flag a client doing product, software or process development and make the introduction. We handle eligibility screening, the technical interviews, the analysis, the documentation and the form preparation. Your client's engineering lead spends roughly one to two hours on it in total; most of the rest we assemble from payroll and ledger data.
How does client data stay secure?
Client records are shared through a secure portal, access is limited to the study team working on that engagement, and everything is governed by the confidentiality terms in the partnership agreement. We don't market to your client list: no newsletters, no sequences, no ads.
How do we get started?
Send a note or book a call. We'll talk through your client base, work out which model fits, and put the agreement, including the non-compete, in front of you. Most firms introduce their first client within a few weeks of that conversation.
R&D tax credit basics
What is the R&D tax credit?
The federal R&D tax credit, under Section 41 of the Internal Revenue Code, is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax for companies that develop or improve products, software or processes in the United States. It is a credit rather than a deduction, which is why it is worth substantially more than its headline percentage suggests.
Who qualifies for the R&D tax credit?
Any company whose work passes the IRS four-part test: the activity has a permitted purpose (a new or improved product, process or software), is technological in nature, is undertaken to eliminate uncertainty, and involves a process of experimentation. Product and platform engineering usually qualifies. Market research and routine customization don't, and we'll say so.
What expenses count as qualified research expenses?
Four categories: wages for employees performing, supervising or supporting qualified research; supplies consumed in the research; 65% of contract research paid to third parties; and cloud computing costs used for development. Wages are almost always the largest of the four.
How much is the R&D tax credit worth?
Typically 6–10% of qualified research expenses for the federal credit, before any state credits. A company with a million dollars of qualifying wages might claim somewhere in the region of sixty to a hundred thousand a year. Eligibility and the final figure depend on revenue, company age and the nature of the work.
Can startups with no income tax use the credit?
Yes. A qualified small business, under five million dollars in gross receipts and within five years of its first receipts, can apply up to half a million dollars of credit per year against the employer share of payroll taxes instead of income tax, under §41(h) and §3111(f). It's claimed on Form 8974 with the quarterly 941. That's what makes the credit cash rather than a deferral for a pre-profit company.
Can a company claim the credit for past years?
Generally yes. Open tax years, typically the past three, can be amended to claim credits that were missed, and unused credits carry forward for up to twenty years. The one exception is the payroll tax offset, which must be elected on an originally filed return and cannot be picked up on an amendment.
What changed with Section 174 and R&D expensing?
From 2022 through 2024, companies had to capitalize and amortize domestic R&D costs over five years instead of deducting them immediately, which created tax bills at companies that had made no profit. Legislation in 2025 restored full expensing of domestic R&D costs for tax years beginning after 31 December 2024. Foreign research still amortizes over fifteen years. We surface the §174 position alongside the credit and hand it to whoever prepares the return, which is you.
What documentation survives an IRS examination?
Contemporaneous records that tie people and money to specific qualified activities: a project list, technical narratives mapped to the four-part test, payroll allocations showing who spent what proportion of their time on which project, and evidence of the experimentation itself. A spreadsheet of totals assembled after the fact is what fails. Every number in our studies traces back to a wage row, a general ledger transaction or a contractor bill, and the study is retained for seven years.
Ready to add R&D credits to your practice?
One call to scope your first client. Referral or white-label, your call.
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