On Friday, September 15th the Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) released a preview of proposed changes to several sections of IRS Form 6765, titled “Credit for Increasing Research Activities” and is requesting feedback from stakeholders by October 31st. As a background, the Federal-Level R&D Tax Credit program was originally introduced into the Internal Revenue Code through President Ronald Reagan’s Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 and the program has continued to evolve both from a quantitative and qualitative perspective over the past four decades.
The Service has provided a preview of their proposed changes to Form 6765 in an effort to solicit feedback from stakeholders in advance of the formal draft release expected later this year. Just some of the proposed changes address previous feedback received from taxpayers and tax professionals alike in recent years during IRS examinations. It should be duly noted that each year, the Service receives thousands of tax returns from taxpayers claiming the Federal-Level R&D Tax Credit. R&D Tax Credit issues are currently examined in a substantial number of cases year-over-year and consume significant resources from both taxpayers and the Service alike. To provide more effective tax administration of the Federal-Level R&D Tax Credit program, the Service must ensure taxpayers truly comprehend the complete scope and application of the program’s requirements to support claiming the R&D Tax Credit with a sustainable tax return filing position per Circular 230. To that end, the proposed changes to Form 6765 will require taxpayers to identify, gather, and document additional data on this enhanced form before filing their tax returns. The primary proposed changes to Form 6765 include:
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