R&D Credit Case Study
Engineering
We partnered with a Virginia-based structural engineering firm specializing in seismic design, load analysis, and material optimization. The company was advancing critical infrastructure projects through complex modeling, testing, and iterative design but had not been translating these efforts into an R&D tax credit strategy.
Federal Tax Credit
State Tax Credit
The Challenge
The firm was investing heavily in advanced modeling, structural analysis, and design refinement but wasn’t claiming the tax benefits tied to their innovation. While leadership recognized that much of their work involved solving technical uncertainties, they lacked a streamlined process for identifying and documenting these activities in compliance with federal and state requirements.
Our Approach
We engaged with the firm’s technical leads to uncover eligible workstreams without pulling focus from active projects. Our process identified:
Structural simulations and iterative design under load and seismic constraints
Prototype testing and materials research for performance improvement
Engineering labor directly tied to experimentation and problem-solving
Supporting documentation mapped to the IRS four-part test and Virginia’s credit rules
By pairing our AI-driven platform with targeted interviews, we built a fully substantiated, audit-ready claim while keeping the time commitment from engineers to a minimum.
The Outcome
The firm secured $162,500 in combined federal and Virginia R&D tax credits based on $2.5M in qualified expenses. The process was efficient and low-lift, allowing the team to unlock meaningful financial value while continuing to deliver structural innovations.
