Software R&D Development

• Developing or improving software for commercial use or internal applications

• Writing and testing source code

• Adding new features or enhancing functionality

• Creating new or specialized technologies

• Optimizing performance or scalability

• Designing and developing software architecture

IT Planning and Design

• Defining and analyzing functional and technical requirements

• Participating in technical planning meetings

• Analyzing software functionality and performance requirements

• Prototyping through user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design

• Conducting user research and usability testing

Supervision and Testing

• Technical project and product management related to R&D

• Leadership and oversight of qualifying projects

• Quality assurance and software testing

• Performing unit, integration, functional, or regression testing

• Conducting load, performance, and user acceptance (UAT) testing

Startups and Payroll Tax Eligibility

If your company is a startup, you may be able to apply R&D tax credits against your payroll tax (FICA) liability if you:

• Have less than $5 million in gross receipts for the current tax year, and

• Have fewer than five years of gross receipts

If your company does not meet these criteria, you can still apply the credit to your federal income taxes and, in many cases, to state taxes as well.

Documentation to Support Your Claim

The IRS requires clear documentation to support R&D tax credit claims. Common examples include:

• Payroll and wage records

• General ledger expense details

• Project lists, notes, and technical documentation

• Software commit logs and build or release notes

• Email records and meeting notes

• Patent filings and issued patents

• Employee interviews or statements

• Organizational charts

• Documentation of technical uncertainty or alternative approaches considered

• Testing records and error logs

What Does Not Qualify for the R&D Tax Credit

While much of software development qualifies, certain activities do not. The IRS excludes:

• Work in the social sciences, arts, or humanities

• Market research or surveys

• Work performed outside the United States

• Research funded by another entity

• Routine maintenance or bug fixes

• Configuration or use of off-the-shelf software (such as deploying a licensed CMS or eCommerce platform)

How InfoLink Tax Helps

With InfoLink Tax, your company gets a team that understands both software development and the tax credit process. Our specialists know how to document technical work so it stands up to IRS scrutiny, and our platform makes collecting and organizing records simple.

We provide full audit support if your claim is ever reviewed and help you create efficient processes to track qualifying work. Like using commit logs for technical proof.

Even if your company is a startup or is running at a loss, you may still qualify for valuable credits. Contact InfoLink Tax today to see how much you can recover through the R&D tax credit and start putting more money back into your business.

At InfoLink Tax, we combine AI efficiency with white glove service to make the R&D tax credit process faster, simpler, and fully supported from start to finish. Our technology streamlines data collection while our specialists ensure accuracy, compliance, and peace of mind. Whether you are claiming for the first time or improving past results, we make sure you never leave money on the table.