RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTATION (R&E) CREDIT 

Government support of research and development (R&D) may be appropriate when the social 

benefits associated with research activities exceed the private benefits. In the absence of such 

intervention, a market economy would tend to underinvest in research that leads to new ideas, 

discoveries and knowledge that are helpful in supporting a growing economy. There are 

numerous ways that governments seek to increase research activity. This paper describes and 

analyzes one prominent tax expenditure, the research and experimentation (R&E) credit, which

encourages businesses in the U.S. to increase investment in research activities. 

Current Law Description 

Originally enacted in 1981, the R&E credit was temporarily extended 16 times before finally 

being made permanent in the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015.1 The 

R&E credit is incremental, the credit amount equals the applicable credit rate times the amount 

of qualified research expenses (QRE) above a base amount. Under current law, taxpayers may 

choose one of two methods to calculate the credit. 

First, under the regular or “traditional” method the credit rate equals 20 percent and the base 

amount is the product of the taxpayer’s “fixed base percentage” and the average of the taxpayer’s 

gross receipts for the four preceding years. The taxpayer’s fixed base percentage is the ratio of 

its research expenses to gross receipts for the 1984-1988 period. A modified rule is used for 

taxpayers not in existence during the 1984-1988 time period to determine the fixed base 

percentage. The base amount cannot be less than 50 percent of the taxpayer’s QRE for the 

taxable year. 

Second, taxpayers can elect the alternative simplified credit (ASC), which equals 14 percent of 

QRE that exceed a base amount defined as 50 percent of the average QRE for the three 

preceding taxable years. The ASC rate is reduced to six percent if a taxpayer has no QRE in any 

of the three preceding taxable years. 

Taxpayers are also allowed to deduct (expense), instead of capitalize, research and experimental 

expenditures.2 However, taxpayers must either reduce the amount of their deduction of research 

expenditures by the amount of the credit claimed,3or elect to take a smaller credit, one reduced 

by a proportion equal to the maximum statutory corporate tax rate.4 (More than 90 percent of 

corporate taxpayers elect the reduced credit.) This “reduced” credit decreases the credit rate from 

20 percent to 13 percent under the regular method and from 14 percent to 9.1 percent under the 

 

1

 Currently, section 41 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). The credit was allowed to lapse for one year (between 

June 30, 1995 and July 1, 1996) without a retroactive provision. 

2

 Section 174 of the IRC. 

3

 If the taxpayer capitalized the research expenses then the capitalized amount would be reduced by the amount of 

the credit. 

4

See IRC section 280C(c). The maximum statutory corporate tax rate is 35 percent so the reduced credit rate is 65 

percent (1 – 0.35) of the statutory credit rate. 

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ASC. The proportional adjustment is roughly equivalent to reducing the size of deductible 

research expenses by the amount of the credit.5 

QRE include both in-house research expenses and contract research expenses. In-house research 

expenses include wages, supplies, and computer leasing expenses.6

 Generally only 65 percent of 

payments for qualified research by the taxpayer to an outside person is included as contract 

research expenses, except in the case of payments to a qualified research consortium, 75 percent 

of the payments is included. Qualified research must be undertaken for purpose of discovering 

information that is technological in nature, must be intended to be useful in the development of a 

new or improved business component, and substantially all of the activities must relate to a 

process of experimentation concerning a new or improved function, performance, reliability or 

quality.7

The R&E credit is a component of the general business credit and is generally not allowed to 

offset alternative minimum tax (AMT) liability. Credit amounts not claimed on the current-year 

tax return receive a one-year carryback or a carryforward of up to 20 years. The recently passed 

PATH Act of 2015 created two exceptions to the normal general business credit rules for certain 

small businesses beginning in 2016. First, eligible small businesses with gross receipts less than 

$50 million averaged over the past 3 years may apply the credit against AMT liability. Second, a 

qualified small business may elect to claim up to $250,000 of R&E tax credit as a payroll tax 

credit against its employer share of Social Security old age, survivors, and disability insurance 

(OASDI) taxes. To qualify for this payroll tax credit, the gross receipts of the taxpayer must be 

less than $5 million in the taxable year, and the taxpayer must not have had gross receipts in any 

taxable year before the 5-year period ending with the current taxable year. 

For certain research activities, the R&E tax credit allows a separate credit calculation equal to 20 

percent of: (1) basic research payments above a base amount; and (2) all eligible payments to an 

energy research consortium for energy research.8

Use of the Credit 

The R&E credit is one of the largest business tax expenditures. In the past, however, the 

estimates of its size presented the tax expenditure budget frequently have been understated 

because the credit was temporary and its revenue effects were assumed to expire on schedule. In 

recent years, the credit had often expired at the time of the calculation and the tax expenditure 

reported in the Administration’s budget primarily reflected the use of the large stock of 

 

5

 While providing a basis adjustment is a typical treatment under the IRC for an investment tax credit, it was not 

required in the early years of the R&E credit. Legislation in 1988 required the deduction of research expenditures to 

be reduced by 50 percent of the credit amount and legislation in 1989 increased that amount to 100 percent of the 

credit amount. A basis adjustment is required if the credit is to have the intuitive effect of reducing the user cost of 

capital in proportion to the credit (i.e., by 10 percent for a 10 percent credit), as discussed below. 

6

 Indirect costs related to research (such as a research department’s overhead expenses, depreciation on property 

used in the research process, and general corporate overhead) are not allowed to be included as QRE. 

7

 The research must also satisfy the criteria of IRC section 174. Certain activities are excluded from the definition of 

“qualified research” under IRC section 41(d)(4). 

8

 These activities account for less than one percent of the total research expenditures recorded on tax returns and will 

not be discussed further in this paper. 

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carryforward credit from previous years. For example, in the Fiscal Year 2017 budget, the 

estimated cost of the R&E credit equaled $20.6 billion for fiscal years 2016-2025 reflecting the 

expiration of the credit at the end of 2014 under the law at that time. Now the credit is 

permanent and the recently released Office of Tax Analysis (OTA) estimate of the tax 

expenditure has increased to $148.0 billion for fiscal years 2017-2026. This ranks the credit as 

one of largest business tax expenditures over the budget window. 

For 2012, a total of $11.6 billion of current-year credit was reported on corporate and individual 

returns. Corporations accounted for $10.8 billion (93 percent) of the total. However, for a 

couple of reasons this is not an accurate measure of the revenue loss for that year as a result of 

the credit. First, taxpayers must either reduce the amount of their deduction of research 

expenditures by the amount of the credit claimed, or elect to take the reduced credit. In recent 

years, more than 90 percent of corporate taxpayers chose the reduced credit. But for those who 

do not choose the reduced credit, an adjustment must be calculated to account for the value of the 

lost deductions to equalize the value of the credit reported to those taxpayers who use the 

reduced credit. 

Second, many taxpayers do not have current-year tax liability for which to take advantage of the 

credit immediately. In recent years, roughly half of the current-year credit for both corporate and 

individual taxpayers is not used in the current taxable year. The credits not used in the current 

year receive a one-year carryback or a 20-year carryforward. Recent improvements to Form 

3800 provide information on the different types of general business credit carryforwards. In 

2012, corporations reported $27.3 billion in R&E credit carryforwards, another $0.8 billion in 

R&E credit carryforwards were reported on individual returns. 

Details on the use of the credit for corporate taxpayers in 2012 by sector and size of business are 

shown in Tables 1 and 2.9 By far the largest sector claiming the research credit was 

manufacturing, with 6,219 corporate manufacturers claiming almost $6.6 billion of tax credits, 

which comprises 39 percent of the 15,873 corporate returns and 61 percent of the $10.8 billion in 

total current-year credits. The largest businesses, i.e., those with receipts of $250 million or 

more, accounted for 14 percent of all corporate tax filers claiming the credit, but for 84 percent 

of the total amount of credits claimed. Corporations with gross receipts less than $50 million 

accounted for just over 72 percent of the returns, but less than 11 percent of the current-year 

credit. Similarly, 42 percent of the returns belonged to corporations with gross receipts under $5 

million, but these small taxpayers generated less than 6 percent of the current-year credit. 

Approximately 69 percent of QRE spending is for wages and salaries. Another 15 percent goes 

towards supplies, and contract research expenses account for 16 percent of QRE. Expenditures 

for the rental or lease cost of computers accounts for a negligible percentage of QRE. 

Corporations using the regular method accounted for approximately 31 percent of QRE, while 

firms using the ASC comprised the remaining 69 percent of QRE. 

Effect of the Credit on R&E Incentives 

 

9

 Historical data on use of the credit by industry, size, and calculation method are provided by the Statistics of 

Income Division (SOI) of the IRS. See https://www.irs.gov/uac/soi-tax-stats-corporation-research-credit. 

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The credit is intended to subsidize increases in R&E investment above a baseline level. Because 

the credit is calculated based on incremental investment, and because taxpayers have options for 

calculating the value of the credit, measuring the incentive effects of the credit is complicated. 

This section summarizes these incentives. First we calculate the marginal credit rate on 

incremental R&E expenditures—how much additional tax savings firms receive from increasing 

their expenditures—and describe how that incentive varies across firms and compares to the 

average credit rate. Second, to understand how this affects incentives to invest in research, we 

compare the treatment of marginal research investments to investments in tangible property. 

Most corporate taxpayers use the ASC method (51 percent) where the average and effective rates 

are nearly equal, and these taxpayers account for 69 percent of the research expense reported on 

tax returns. For taxpayers using the regular method, most are constrained by the 50 percent 

minimum base and in effect face a flat-rate credit. These taxpayers account for 44 percent of 

corporate returns and 28 percent of research spending. Under assumptions we describe below, 

the required user cost of capital for investment in R&D falls by 15 to 26 percent below an 

alternative investment in a piece of equipment, which translates to a reduction in the required 

rate of return of approximately 3 to 6 percentage points. 

The primary unit of measurement for this discussion will be the present value change in tax 

liabilities for a marginal one dollar increase in QRE in the current taxable year, which will be 

labeled the “effective credit rate.” The effective credit rate can vary by the method of 

calculation, the pattern of research investment over time for the firm, and the tax position of the 

taxpayer. The average credit rate is also calculated, which is defined as the current-year credit 

divided by total current-year QRE. In all examples, the taxpayer is assumed to elect the reduced 

credit. 

Sample calculations are provided in Tables 3.1-3.3 for taxpayers using the regular method and 

the ASC. In each case, the taxpayer is assumed to already have $100 of QRE for the taxable 

year and then calculates the tax consequences of increasing QRE by 10 percent, to a total of 

$110. Table 3.1 considers a taxpayer using the regular method where the base amount of $60 

exceeds the 50-percent minimum base. For this taxpayer, the full $10 of increased QRE faces 

the reduced credit rate of 13 percent, implying the effective credit rate also equals 13 percent. 

The average credit rate is below the marginal effective credit rate as the only the portion of 

expenditures above the base amount is eligible for the credit. Increasing QRE by $10 increases 

the average credit rate from 5.2 percent to 5.9 percent as a greater portion of current-year QRE 

would be above the base amount. 

Table 3.2 shows a similar situation, only in this case the base amount of $40 is less than 50 

percent of the current-year QRE. This taxpayer is constrained by the 50-percent minimum base 

requirement. Hence, the $10 increase in QRE also increases the minimum base by $5, implying 

that the amount of QRE above the base only increases by $5 (see line 6). The increase in credit 

is then only half as large as in the previous unconstrained example, implying the effective credit 

rate equals 6.5 percent. The average credit rate equals 6.5 percent before and after the increase 

in QRE. This illustrates that for taxpayers in the situation, the regular credit is not incremental, 

but functions as a flat 6.5 percent credit. 

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To calculate the effective credit rate under the ASC, shown in Table 3.3, it is necessary to 

include the effect of increasing current-year QRE spending on the base amount for the next three 

years.10 In the current-year (Year 0 in the table) the full amount of the $10 increase in QRE 

faces the reduced credit rate of 9.1 percent. However, the base amount for each of the next 3 

years increases by $1.67, which leads to a decline in the credit received in each of those years of 

a little more than $0.15. In sum, the increase in current-year credit of $0.91 is offset by a decline 

in future credits of $0.455. With no discounting of the future credits, the total increase in credits 

equals $0.455, implying an effective credit rate (4.55 percent) which is half of the reduced rate. 

Assuming a discount rate of 5 percent, the effective credit rate increases to 5.0 percent. This is 

very close in magnitude to the average credit rate, which increases from 5.0 percent to 5.4 

percent in this example with the increase in QRE. 

While these sample calculations portray the typical situation for a firm, there also can be 

situations where the regular method provides no incentive to increase research on the margin. 

This could happen if the base amount is larger than the planned level of current-year research.11 

Similarly, under the ASC, the effective credit rate can actually be negative if the planned level of 

research falls below the base amount. For such firms, marginal increases in research do not 

generate any current-year credit but increase the base amount of research that will apply in 

subsequent years. In this case, the effective credit rate is negative because increases in currentyear research provide no current-year credit and reduce future credit eligibility.12

Table 4 summarizes these effective rate calculations and augments them with information from 

the SOI sample of corporate tax returns for 2013 and other years. The effective credit rates 

calculated in Tables 3.1-3.3 assume taxpayers are able to use the full amount of the credit to 

offset current-year (or the previous year) tax liability. In reality, a substantial portion of 

taxpayers are not able to use the credit in the current year and must carryforward the credit to 

future years. Based on SOI data, OTA calculates that on a present value basis, 82 percent of the 

credit will eventually be used assuming a 5 percent discount rate.13 Thus the effective credit 

rates of 13, 6.5, and 5.0 percent shown on Line 3 of Table 4 equal 10.7, 5.3, and 4.1 percent, 

respectively, once the typical amount of carryforward credit is considered (Line 4). 

While it is important to understand the marginal incentive effects for each calculation method, 

taxpayers also care about the total credit received, as reflected by the average credit rate, 

particularly when choosing the calculation method used when filing the return. The average 

credit rate reported in Table 4 is based on the 2013 SOI sample of corporate tax returns and is 

calculated as the total reduced credit divided by the total current-year level of QRE for firms 

using each method.14

 The average credit is highest at 6.5 percent for those firms constrained by 

the 50 percent minimum base for the regular method. For firms using the regular method and not 

 

10 If the taxpayer expected no future R&E expenses for at least three years, then the effective credit rate would equal 

the current-year reduced rate of 9.1 percent. 

11 This could occur in the example in Table 3.1 if the fixed-base percentage or gross receipts in the example were 

higher, say a fixed-base percentage of 12 percent. 

12 This could happen if the current-year level of QRE were less than half of the previous 3-year average. 

13 Unless otherwise noted, all calculations in the paper assume a 5 percent discount rate. Assuming a 10 percent 

discount rate would lower the present value of the current-year credit to 74 percent. 

14 Returns without sufficient information for this calculation were dropped. This eliminated approximately 9 percent 

of returns from the sample, but these returns accounted for only 1 percent of the reported R&E credit. 

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constrained by the minimum base, the average credit can range between 0 and 6.5 percent 

depending on how close the historical base is to the current-year research spending. For the full 

sample, the average credit rate for these firms is 5.6 percent. For firms using the ASC, the 

average credit rate equals 5.2 percent, which is actually higher than the marginal effective credit 

rate of 5.0 percent when assuming a 5 percent discount rate.15 If the assumed discount rate were 

instead 8 percent, then the effective and average credit rates would equal under the ASC. 

Examining the results for effective and average rates in Table 4, along with the share of research 

conducted by taxpayers using each of the methods, indicates that the incentive effects of the 

credit are not much different from a flat-rate credit for most taxpayers. Most corporate taxpayers 

use the ASC method (51 percent) where the average and effective rates are nearly equal, and 

these taxpayers account for 69 percent of the research expense reported on tax returns. For 

taxpayers using the regular method, most are constrained by the 50 percent minimum base and in 

effect face a flat-rate credit. These taxpayers account for 44 percent of corporate returns and 28 

percent of research spending. The final category of taxpayers where the credit is decidedly 

incremental, those using the regular method and not constrained by the minimum base, account 

for only 5 percent of corporate returns and 3 percent of research spending. 

How does the combination of the expensing and the R&E credit affect the incentive to invest in 

R&D versus alternative investments? Table 5 provides illustrative calculations of the depth of 

the current tax subsidy to R&E investment compared to an alternative investment in tangible 

property. All investments are assumed to earn the same real after-tax rate of return of 5 percent, 

and the table calculates the effective tax rate (ETR), which is the tax wedge between the before 

and after-tax rate of return. For simplicity, these calculations assume there is only one level of 

tax at 35 percent and the investment is equity-financed. If the cost of the investment were 

recovered at the economic rate of depreciation, then the required before-tax rate of return, net of 

depreciation, equals 7.7 percent and the ETR equals the statutory rate of 35 percent. For 

investment in equipment, depreciation deductions are generally accelerated relative to economic 

depreciation. Table 5 shows the case for an investment in a generic piece of equipment with a 7-

year tax life. The required before-tax rate of return falls to 6.7 percent and the ETR equals 25 

percent. 

Providing expensing of R&E expenditures reduces the ETR to zero, as the before-tax rate of 

return equals the 5 percent after-tax rate of return. This occurs because the upfront deduction for 

the full cost of the investment equals in present value the amount of tax due on the normal return 

to the investment. The R&E credit reduces the before-tax rate of return below the after-tax rate 

of return, which implies a negative ETR. If the firm faced the 13 percent effective credit rate 

under the regular method, then the before-tax rate of return would fall to 1 percent. When the 

effective rate under the regular credit is 6.5 percent, then the required before-tax rate of return 

equals 3 percent. Under the ASC, the 5 percent effective credit rate leads to a before-tax rate of 

return of 3.5 percent. 

To better understand the impact of the credit, it is helpful to consider the impact on the required 

before-tax gross (of depreciation) rate of return, also referred to as the user cost of capital. For 

 

15 The average credit rate can vary for a particular firm in a particular year can range between 0 to nearly 9.1 

percent, depending on how close the current-year spending deviates from the past 3-year average. 

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the case when expensing is allowed, but no credit is given, the user cost of capital equals 20 

percent under the assumptions given in Table 5. A general result for investment tax credits is 

that the required user cost of capital declines in proportion to the credit rate, assuming the credit 

amount reduces the deductible portion of the investment by the amount of the credit, i.e., 

assuming a basis adjustment. The 20-percent credit rate (13-percent reduced credit) under the 

regular method reduces the required user cost of capital by 20 percent, to 16 percent. The four 

percentage-point decline in the user cost of capital is the same four percentage-point decline in 

the required net rate-of-return (from 5 percent to 1 percent). 

This analysis implies that the combination of expensing and the R&E credit provides a strong 

enough incentive that taxpayers should be willing to accept (before-tax) returns to R&D that fall 

below what they could earn on investments on tangible capital. Under the assumptions used in 

Table 5, the required user cost of capital for investment in R&D falls by 15 to 26 percent below 

an alternative investment in a piece of equipment, which translates to a reduction in the required 

rate of return of approximately 3 to 6 percentage points. 

Effect of the Credit on R&D Spending 

The empirical literature generally finds evidence that the R&E credit has increased research 

spending by private businesses in the U.S. The preliminary evidence on the R&E credit from the 

early 1980s found very little impact on research spending, e.g., a small elasticity.16 The price 

elasticity measures the percentage change in quantity caused by a one percent change in price 

(reported here in terms of absolute value). Evidence from the 1990s finds a roughly dollar-fordollar or greater increase in research spending with respect to the credit. Using financial 

statements for a sample of manufacturing firms from 1980 to 1991, Hall (1993) estimates that the 

short-run elasticity ranges between 0.8 and 1.5.17 Hines (1993) estimates the effect of changes in 

allocation rules of R&E expensing on multinational corporations. Relying on the variation in tax 

treatment of R&E expenditures across firms, he estimates that the elasticity is between 1.2 and 

1.6. 

Surveying the empirical work at the end of the 1990’s, Hall and Van Reenen (2000) conclude an 

elasticity of one best represents the literature. More recent estimates suggest that an elasticity of 

one is still a good benchmark, though as before, there remains considerable variance in the 

estimates. There is also evidence that in some cases (i.e. smaller financially constrained firms) 

the elasticity may be larger.18 Bloom, Griffith, and Van Reenen (2002) conduct a cross-country 

analysis of 9 OECD countries including the U.S. and estimate a short run elasticity of only 0.1 

 

16 Using confidential tax return data from the U.S. from 1981 to 1984, Altshuler (1988) finds that the effective 

credit rate was much lower than the statutory credit rate of 25 percent, perhaps even zero or negative. Relying on 

data from Compustat from that same time period, Eisner, et al. (1984) similarly find a small effective credit rate, 

which is potentially zero or negative. Mansfield (1986) surveys executives from the U.S., Canada, and Sweden 

about their research spending and documents that reported increases in research spending were substantially less 

than the revenue lost due to the credit. 

17 The problem with this study and others that use Compustat data is that the definition of research in is broader on 

the financial statements than qualified research reported on tax returns, and it is not possible to precisely identify the 

tax status of individual firms and hence the effective credit rate for a firm in a particular year. 

18 Agrawal, Rosell, and Simcoe (2014) estimate an elasticity of 1.5 for small Canadian firms. Dechezleprêtre, et al. 

(2016) examine tax provisions targeted to small firms in the U.K. and estimate an elasticity of 2.6. 

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and a long-run elasticity close to one. Comparing the impacts of R&D incentives across 

countries is difficult, however, as countries construct their policies to encourage research in 

different ways. For example, the authors use of aggregated data allow for little ability to control 

for firms in differential tax positions or to account for certain features of the tax incentive that 

would apply to only a portion of firms. In a more recent paper, Bloom, Schankerman, and Van 

Reenen (2013) estimate an elasticity of 0.7 using an unbalanced panel of U.S. firms found in 

Compustat from 1980-2001.19

Rao (2016) is the most recent paper examining the U.S. R&E credit, however she only estimates 

the effect for the first decade of the credit, well before the introduction of the ASC. She uses 

confidential tax return data from the U.S. from 1981-1991 to re-estimate the effect of the R&E 

credit.20 She estimated a short-run elasticity and long-run elasticity that are both close to two, 

suggesting a strong response of reported QRE to the after-tax user price. She also matches some 

of the firms in the tax return sample with Compustat data. The measure of research in the 

Compustat data is broader than QRE reported on tax returns. She finds strong evidence that 

firms respond to the credit much more by increasing reported QRE than increasing overall 

research expenditures. Whether this represents a real shift in research activity towards the type 

of research expenditures that meet the qualifications for the credit, or whether this merely 

represents a relabeling of research expenditures that were already planned or conducted is 

unclear. Regardless of whether the shifting reflects a move out of nonqualifying research into 

qualifying research or relabeling, it does not represent an increase in research overall, and so 

casts some doubt on the real level of taxpayer responsiveness to the credit. Furthermore, the 

possibility of such shifting has colored interpretation of much of the earlier empirical literature 

on the effect of the R&E tax credit, since that research did not control for shifting. 

Discussion 

Rationale for Promoting R&E 

Government support of R&D is widely accepted as appropriate by economists and policymakers 

because of the social benefits associated with research activities. Economic theory suggests that 

the social return to investment in research in a market economy would be greater than the private 

return. Stated another way, investment in technical knowledge has positive spillover benefits 

that exceed the benefits received by the one making the investment. These spillovers occur 

because of two properties of technical knowledge. First, once an idea has been developed, it is 

difficult to prevent others from using the idea, say for example due to reverse 

engineering. Second, the consumption of an idea by one person does not reduce the amount of 

knowledge available to others.21 As a result, businesses may reject some research projects whose 

benefits to society exceed its private gains, leading to an underinvestment in research in the 

economy. 

 

19 The paper is not clear on the time frame (e.g., short-run, long-run) to which this elasticity corresponds. 

20 She employs an instrumental variables methodology based on law changes to addresses the simultaneity between 

R&E spending and incremental credit rates. 

21 In economics jargon, technical knowledge is non-excludable and non-rival. 

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Though it is difficult to measure the social returns to R&D, the empirical literature largely 

confirms that the social returns exceed the private returns.22 Hall, Mairesse, and Mohnen (2010) 

review of the empirical literature on the returns to R&D conclude that the private returns to R&D 

are typically higher than those to physical capital. Moreover, the social returns to R&D are 

almost always estimated to be substantially greater than private returns, though the estimates are 

often imprecisely estimated. A recent paper by Bloom, Schankerman and Van Reenen (2013) 

uses 1980-2001 U.S. Compustat data to estimate that the private (gross) rate of return to R&D 

equals 21 percent while the social rate of return equals 55 percent, more than twice the private 

return. If this estimate is accurate, then the socially optimal level of R&D is more than double 

the current level.23 This paper also estimates that smaller firms have smaller social returns as 

their technology is more specialized and fewer firms tend to benefit from the knowledge 

spillover. 

There are numerous ways that governments seek to increase research activity. The government 

can directly conduct research through agencies, it can fund educational institutions, or it can 

offer grants to private entities to conduct specific research projects. Governments also seek to 

increase private returns to research spending through the protection of intellectual property 

rights, such as patents, trademarks and copyrights.24

 Another option is to provide tax incentives 

that increase the after-tax return to research investment. The U.S. has long provided incentives 

for research spending through the tax code. Beginning in 1954, the tax code has allowed the 

deduction (expensing) or amortization of research expenditures, rather than capitalization, in 

order to eliminate uncertainty about the tax accounting treatment of research expenditures and to 

encourage taxpayers to carry on research and experimentation. In addition, as discussed above 

the R&E tax credit was enacted on a temporary basis in 1981 and was recently made permanent 

after numerous temporary extensions. 

Each of these approaches may be appropriately suited for encouraging a certain type of R&D. 

One advantage of the tax credit is that it is a market-based approach and thus generally would 

support research activity that generates at least a market rate of return on average. It also allows 

a host of projects to be selected by many different private investors, and so promotes diversity 

that is difficult to obtain in government chosen or sanctioned projects. However, one limitation 

of the credit is that the projects with the highest private returns, and hence likely to be chosen by 

a profit-seeking taxpayer, are not necessarily those projects with the highest social returns. 

Assessing the Effectiveness of the Credit 

 

22 It is particularly difficult to measure the economic returns to research. Returns could be measured by increases in 

productivity, some measure of the stock of technological knowledge, or increases in jobs, job quality or standards of 

living. Such measurements are impeded by the length of time it may take to realize the benefits of research, and in 

some cases the uncertainty regarding the appropriate depreciation rate to apply. 

23 This paper accounts for possible positive and negative spillovers from R&D. Negative spillovers could occur 

when one firm’s innovation allows it to “steal” customers from product market rivals. There can also be duplicative 

research when there are “patent races.” Similarly, Jones and Williams (1998) also account for both positive and 

negative spillovers and use an endogenous growth model to simulate that the optimal level of R&D is at least two to 

four times the actual level of investment. This estimate assumes a (net) social return of 30 percent and a private 

return ranging from 7 to 14 percent. 

24 These policies seek to make the returns to investment in knowledge more excludable. 

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The R&E credit can improve overall economic efficiency by encouraging firms to undertake 

R&D investments that provide a social return greater than alternative investments, but have a 

private return too low to be profitable apart from the tax subsidy. The existing empirical 

evidence regarding social and private returns to investment does not provide a precise estimate of 

the optimal size of the R&E credit. However, some evidence suggests that investment in R&D 

remains below the optimal level, as social returns to R&D are generally measured to be greater 

than returns to alternative investments.25 This suggests the credit rate may be insufficiently 

small or that other features of the credit limit its effectiveness at spurring greater R&D. 

For example, high compliance costs are frequently cited as a reason that the credit is not more 

effective at spurring more R&D.26 The compliance burden arises from the need to compute the 

complicated credit and to maintain documentation dating back years (and even decades in some 

cases). In addition, the R&E credit has been the source of many disputes between taxpayers and 

the IRS. Some of these difficulties are unavoidable, such as determining and verifying 

qualifying research, but others stem from the design of the credit. 

In addition, for many firms, the credit provides only a weak (or no) incentive because of the lack 

of tax liability for which to use the credit. 

Given the difficulties in measuring the social welfare gains resulting from R&D, some studies 

have focused on measuring the relative cost-effectiveness of the credit, rather than its overall 

efficiency. This approach compares government spending through the R&E credit with the 

government directly funding research. If a dollar spent through foregone tax revenue under the 

R&E credit increases private research by at least one dollar, then the R&E credit is considered to 

be at least as cost-effective as a direct grant.27 The empirical research summarized above 

suggests that price elasticity is close to one.28

 Thus in terms of first approximation, the tax credit 

is similar to a government grant in terms of cost effectiveness.29 It is important to note that 

because the allocation of R&D investments under a tax credit is not necessarily the same as it 

would be under a direct grant, the social welfare gains are not necessarily the same across these 

two vehicles even if these two programs are deemed to be equivalently cost-effective. 

This cost-effectiveness comparison to government grants is valid for the next dollar spent, that is, 

the marginal dollar. The overall benefit-cost ratio for the R&E credit would be higher than the 

elasticity estimate because of the incremental nature of the credit, which reduces the average cost 

of the credit below the marginal cost in some cases. However, the difference between the 

 

25 In addition, the hypothetical calculations discussed above suggest that the credit should push the private rate of 

return to R&D investments below the before-tax rate of return on alternative investments in equilibrium, as the 

credit would compensate the taxpayer so that the after-tax rate of returns would equalize across investments. While 

this may be the case, the empirical evidence generally finds that the private returns to R&D investments are 

comparable to or even greater than the returns to tangible capital. 

26 One long standing problem with the credit, that it was temporary and expired nearly every year, only to be 

reinstated, was addressed in December of 2015 by the PATH Act, which made the credit permanent. 

27 This assumes the nature of the projects would be the same, that government funding would not crowd out private 

projects, that the elasticity estimate reflects real shifts in research spending and not merely relabeling of expenses, 

and ignores differences in administrative costs. 

28 Guenther (2016) reaches a similar conclusion. 

29 Because of the possibility of shifting expenses, neither necessarily increases R&D by a dollar even if the 

measured elasticity is equal to or greater than one. 

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average and marginal effective credit rates currently is not large for most taxpayers. Indeed, for 

only 3 percent of corporate research spending in 2013 did the marginal effective credit rate 

substantially exceed the average credit rate. For most research spending, the current research 

credit functions exactly or nearly as a flat-rate credit. 

Alternative Credit Designs 

Several methods of computation have been used in the history of the credit, though all have 

sought to maintain the incremental nature of the credit. This has been motivated by an attempt to 

limit windfalls given to taxpayers for research that a business would have undertaken in the 

absence of the credit, so as to boost the cost-effectiveness of the credit.30

 To limit these 

windfalls and direct more of the tax expenditure to marginal investments, the credit applies only 

to research above some base amount. Identifying a practical base amount is challenging. In 

theory, the most effective base level of research against which additional research spending is 

determined should correspond to research that would otherwise have been undertaken by a 

business, a counterfactual that is impossible to identify in practice. Finding a base that is a good 

proxy for research that would have been done without the credit has been a challenge throughout 

the history of the credit, and all of the options increase the complexity and compliance costs of 

the credit. 

The original credit calculation used the average level of research spending over the previous 3-

years as the base for the credit. However, this left many firms in a position where the effective 

credit was zero or negative.31

 The regular method, enacted in 1989, replaced that calculation. 

The advantage of using a base that does not update with time (as used in the regular method) is 

that current year research spending does not affect the base for future years, and hence reduce the 

value of the credit in future years. However, the base amount calculation for the regular credit 

has become increasingly outdated and irrelevant to recent research experiences, and so is 

increasingly a poor proxy for the level of research that might have been done in the absence of 

the credit. 

Furthermore, the regular method’s computation relies on information from the 1980’s for many 

taxpayers, which raises compliance costs. For companies that have been in existence and 

engaged in research activities during that period, obtaining and retaining historic information in 

the event of an IRS examination is burdensome (and often impossible). As taxpayers engage in 

corporate acquisitions and dispositions, this historic information may need to be combined with 

data from acquired businesses or segregated for a disposition. Retaining historic information 

may be even more challenging for businesses that form part of a controlled group or businesses 

that are under common control and therefore must aggregate credit information. 

The ASC method, enacted in 2006, attempts to address concerns about using a moving average 

base by reducing the average of the prior years’ research expenses by 50 percent so that it is 

easier to exceed the base. It has proved a popular alternative to the regular method, and arguably 

 

30 A report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the R&E credit concludes that a substantial portion 

of the credit is a windfall for taxpayers who are spending on research that they would have engaged in otherwise, 

rather than incentivizing new research (GAO, 2009). 

31 See Altshuler (1988). 

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provides a better measure of the base level of research expenses as it is based on recent research 

experience. Also, the ASC does not need to measure gross receipts, which eliminates one area of 

potential controversy between the IRS and taxpayers. 

It is difficult to precisely measure the total compliance costs of the regular method. However, the 

popularity of the ASC compared to the regular method, despite the ACS’s relatively less 

favorable tax benefits (in terms of statutory, effective, and average credit rates), suggests that the 

compliance costs of the regular method are substantial. Firms using the ASC conduct more than 

twice the level of qualifying research than firms using the regular method, while receiving on 

average a smaller total credit. This comparison does not mean that all firms using the ASC 

receive a smaller credit than if they would have used the regular method. Many of the firms 

using the ASC likely choose to do so precisely because the ASC generates a larger credit for that 

year.32 Nevertheless, the use of the ASC seems greater than would be simply predicted from 

comparing average credit rates. 

Both the regular method and the ASC use past research experience to determine the base amount 

of research spending for the current year, with the main difference that the regular method uses 

an experience fixed in time (1984-1988) and the ASC is self-updating through time. Another 

approach would be to set the base amount according to a rule-of-thumb. For example, the credit 

could be applied to research spending above a base determined as certain share of gross 

receipts.33

 This is similar to the design of the alternative incremental research credit (AIRC), a 

computation method allowed for the R&E credit for years 1996 through 2008. This approach is 

simpler than the other incremental options, as only current-year information is needed to 

calculate the credit. However, under this approach, it seems more likely that some taxpayers 

typically would have research spending below the base and would be ineligible for the tax credit 

even though they might be responsive to the credit if eligible. This becomes more of a problem 

the higher the base amount and the greater variance there is among taxpayers (and over time for 

a given taxpayer). Another problem with an AIRC type credit is bunching, which would occur to 

the extent that taxpayers delay research projects until they have accumulated enough QRE in one 

year to exceed the base and qualify for the credit. 

Another drawback to incremental credits in practice is that firms face uneven incentives. Some 

firms face the full marginal rate, some face the capped rate, and other firms may face a zero rate 

(or negative rate in case of the ASC) under unusual research spending patterns. There are two 

main problems with this dispersal of rates. First, it is unlikely that the highest marginal rates are 

faced by firms most likely to undertake the investment projects with the highest social returns for 

 

32 Unfortunately, there is not enough information reported annually on tax returns to provide an accurate measure of 

the possible credit the taxpayer would have received if the taxpayer used the other calculation method. Firms where 

the base amount of the regular method is nearly as large or larger than current-year QRE would face a small or zero 

average credit rate and are those taxpayers most likely to choose the ASC. If these taxpayers were forced to use the 

regular method, the reported average credit rate for the regular method would decline. 

33 This approach is also used for start-up taxpayers using the regular method, defined as those taxpayers without at 

least three years of gross receipts and QRE for the years 1984-1988. For the first five taxable years beginning after 

1993 that a taxpayer has QRE, the fixed-base percentage is 3 percent. The fixed-base percentage gradually adjusts 

starting in the sixth year to account more for the taxpayer’s historical ratio of QRE to gross receipts. Beginning with 

11th year and going forward, the fixed-base percentage equals the ratio of total QRE to total gross receipts for five 

out of the six years that comprise the 5th through 10th year of the taxpayer. 

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a given year, in which case the different marginal rates are likely to lead to an inefficient 

allocation of research spending across firms. Second, it is unclear how aware managers are of 

the firm’s effective credit rate when making decisions regarding research spending, but it would 

be expected that the possibility that the firm may end up in a low rate situation would mute the 

incentive effect of the credit. 

Furthermore, incremental credits are likely to be pro-cyclical.34 That is, at a time of an economywide or industry-wide downturn, firms are more likely to be below their base amount, which 

makes it more likely the credit provides no incentive to expand R&D investment during the 

downturn. This in turn acts to exacerbate the business cycle. 

In its FY 2017 Budget, the Administration proposed modifying and slightly expanding the R&E 

tax credit. In several ways, the Administration’s budget proposal for the R&E credit would 

mitigate some of the problems with the current credit. To reduce compliance and administrative 

burdens, the regular method would be repealed. To maintain incentives for those taxpayers 

currently using the regular method, the ASC rate would be increased to 18 percent, which would 

bring the effective credit rate under the ASC to approximately equal the effective credit rate 

under the regular credit for those constrained by the 50 percent minimum base.35 This would 

also boost the incentive for increasing research for those taxpayers already using the ASC, which 

is consistent with the evidence regarding the optimal size of the subsidy. 

Recognizing that the inability to use the credit in the current-taxable year reduces the effective 

incentive of the credit, the Administration also proposes to allow all taxpayers to claim the credit 

against AMT liability. This would increase the likelihood that taxpayers could use the credit in 

the current year and would be simpler as firms near the current gross receipts cut-off will no 

longer need to track their eligibility. In particular, this would tend to help entities organized as 

pass-through entities, as AMT liability is more of a barrier for taking the credit for such 

entities.36

 

Nevertheless, further reforms to the form of the credit may be warranted. One option would be 

to allow full refundability of the credit. This would increase the incentive effect of the credit and 

may be helpful in reducing liquidity constraints for certain firms. However, there are some 

administrative concerns with making the credit fully refundable. The potential for significant 

taxpayer abuses of the credit would likely lead to an increase in administrative and compliance 

costs. Nonetheless, the PATH Act of 2015 allows partial refundability of the credit against 

payroll taxes for qualifying small businesses. The effects of this provision should be examined 

to see if expanding this option to other firms would be an effective alternative to full 

refundability. 

 

34 See Gravelle (1993) for a more general discussion of incremental investment credits. 

35 The effective credit rate for a taxpayer with sufficient current-year tax liability is 6.5 percent for taxpayers using 

the regular method and constrained by the 50-percent minimum base requirement. Under an 18-percent ASC rate, 

the effective rate is 6.4 percent assuming a discount rate of 5 percent and 6.9 percent assuming a discount rate of 10 

percent. 

36 Repealing the special rule in section 41(g) for pass-through owners which limits the amount of credit to the 

amount of tax attributable to that portion of a person’s taxable income which is allocable or apportionable to the 

person’s interest in such trade or business or entity, would also ease the ability of pass-through businesses to take 

advantage of the credit and reduce compliance costs. 

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In addition, the evidence indicates that the current calculation methods are nearly equivalent to a 

flat-rate credit for the vast majority of taxpayers. This suggests adopting a flat-rate credit with 

an effective credit rate similar to the current calculation methods would provide similar 

incentives at a similar budgetary cost, with less administrative and compliance costs, and 

potentially less concern over collateral effects such as exacerbating the effects of the business 

cycle. 

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References

Agrawal, Ajay, Carlos Rosell, and Timothy S. Simcoe. 2014. “Do Tax Credits Affect R&D 

Expenditures by Small Firms? Evidence from Canada. National Bureau of Economic 

Research Working Paper 20615.

Altshuler, Roseanne. “A Dynamic Analysis of the Research and Experimentation Credit.” 

National Tax Journal, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 453-66, Dec 1988. 

Bloom, Nick, Rachel Griffith and John Van Reenen. 2000. “Do R&D Tax Credits Work? 

Evidence from a Panel of Countries 1979-1997.” Journal of Public Economics 85:1-31.

Bloom, Nicholas, Mark Schankerman, and John Van Reenen. 2013. “Identifying Technology 

Spillovers and Product Market Rivalry.” Econometrica 81(4):1347-1393. 

Dechezleprêtre, Antione, Elias Einiö, Ralf Martin, Kieu-Trang Nguyen, and John Van Reenen. 

2016. “Do Tax Incentives for Research Increase Firm Innovation? An RD Design for 

R&D.” National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 22405. 

Eisner, Robert, Steven Albert, and Martin Sullivan. “The New Incremental Tax Credit for R&D: 

Incentive or Disincentive,” National Tax Journal, Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 171-183, 1984. 

General Accountability Office. 2009. The Research Tax Credit’s Design and Administration Can 

Be Improved. GAO-10-136. 

Gravelle, Jane. 1993. “What can Private Investment Incentives Accomplish? The Case of the 

Investment Tax Credit,” National Tax Journal 46(3):275-90. 

Guenther, Gary. 2016. Research Tax Credit: Current Law and Policy Issues for the 114th

Congress. Congressional Research Service, RL31181. 

Hall, Bronwyn. 1993. “R&D Tax Policy During the 1980s: Success of Failure?” in James 

Poterba, ed. Tax Policy and the Economy. Vol. 7, 1-35.

Hall, Bronwyn, Jacques Mairesse, and Pierre Mohnen. 2010. “Measuring the Returns to R&D,” 

in Bronwyn Hall and Nathan Rosenberg (eds.) Handbook of the Economics of Innovation

(Amsterdam: Elsevier), pp. 1034-1076.

Hall, Bronwyn and John Van Reenen. 2000. “How Effective are Fiscal Incentives for R&D? A 

Review of the Evidence.” Research Policy, Vol 29, 449-469. 

Hines Jr., James. 1993. “On the Sensitivity of R&D to Delicate Tax Changes: The Behavior of 

U.S. Multinationals in the 1980s.” In Giovannini, A,. Hubbard, R.G., and Slemrod, J. 

(Eds.) Studies in International Taxation. (University of Chicago Press: Chicago), pp. 

149-194.

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Jones, Charles and John Williams. 1998. “Measuring the Social Return to R&D.” The Quarterly 

Journal of Economics. 

Mansfield, Edwin. “The R&D Tax Credit and Other Technology Policy Issues,” American 

Economic Review, Vol. 72, No. 2, pp 190-194. May 1986. 

Rao, Nirupama. 2016. “Do Tax Credits Stimulate R&D Spending? The Effect of the R&D Tax 

Credit in its First Decade.” Journal of Public Economics, 140:1-12.

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Agriculture, 

forestry, 

fishing, and 

hunting

Mining Utilities Construction Manufacturing Wholesale and 

retail trade

Transportation 

and 

warehousing

Information Finance and 

insurance

Real estate, 

rental, and 

leasing

Professional, 

scientific, and 

technical services

Management of 

companies 

(holding 

companies)

Administrative/ 

support and 

waste 

management 

services

Various 

services [8] 

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15)

Number of Returns Claiming a Credit on Form 6765 [3] 15,873 59 81 67 240 6,219 1,071 58 1,583 304 82 5,280 403 148 278

Section A-Regular Credit. [7]

1 Certain amounts paid/incurred to energy consortia........................... 54,251 0 0 52,977 0 *1,175 [1] 0 0 0 0 *99 0 0 0

2 Basic research payments paid or incurred........................................ 167,396 0 0 *2,210 0 40,542 *518 0 *83,255 0 0 29,553 9,781 0 *1,538

3 Qualified organization base period amount....................................... 652,366 0 0 0 43 292,231 4,093 0 *321,272 0 0 34,686 0 0 41

5 Wages for qualified services............................................................... 36,027,666 *15,781 *22,075 *87,565 *92,570 21,446,573 *3,946,799 *58,322 *3,252,476 *769,137 *63,377 5,653,763 *348,177 *91,604 *179,447

6 Cost of supplies................................................................................... 9,825,525 *20,631 *21,854 11,276 18,183 7,394,733 886,480 *46 61,745 *685 4,636 1,363,965 886 *2,007 38,398

7 Rental or lease costs of computers................................................... 29,235 0 0 0 253 5,069 33 0 *644 0 0 22,685 0 0 *551

8 Applicable percentage of contract research expense....................... 9,797,170 *4,182 *7,716 179,211 27,046 5,667,149 671,783 *11,766 353,143 322,867 26,289 2,313,589 143,605 13,351 55,473

9 Total qualified research expenses (sum 5-8) [4]................................ 55,674,020 *40,595 51,646 278,052 138,052 34,513,368 5,505,094 *70,135 3,662,604 1,092,690 *94,301 9,353,987 492,667 106,962 273,868

11 Average annual gross receipts [5]...................................................... 9,254,381,652 *946,061 *3,276,280 61,842,175 14,583,969 1,040,166,762 238,564,477 *39,321,903 158,843,717 7,412,864,328 2,404,549 126,535,249 142,172,716 2,819,684 10,039,782

12 Base amount....................................................................................... 15,543,684 *8,668 *10,835 103,329 24,834 10,884,062 1,563,337 *30,450 809,003 116,525 18,979 1,915,924 11,155 15,072 31,512

17 Regular Credit [6]................................................................................ 3,438,134 *3,413 3,410 23,344 8,554 2,174,430 287,477 *4,529 258,338 64,211 *4,282 547,141 33,355 7,121 18,530

Section B-Alternative Simplified Credit. [7]

18 Certain amounts paid or incurred to energy consortia...................... 120,630 0 811 100,900 0 15,781 3,138 0 0 [1] 0 [1] 0 [1] 0

19 Basic research payments to qualified organizations......................... 129,723 307 [1] 1,292 0 99,141 19,087 0 [1] [1] 0 *9,449 0 *447 0

20 Qualified organization base period amount....................................... 468,831 0 *321 7 [1] 344,049 *12,172 0 98,389 0 7,344 2,086 0 4,462 0

24 Wages for qualified services............................................................... 99,413,316 61,793 469,008 79,229 223,892 58,145,143 8,460,162 120,027 22,418,841 1,400,227 325,742 6,872,555 229,900 384,860 221,938

25 Cost of supplies................................................................................... 19,138,212 28,857 556,682 8,518 22,253 15,973,268 1,381,591 *12,331 326,108 4,209 17,391 606,984 *2,194 175,403 22,423

26 Rental or lease costs of computers................................................... 140,476 0 700 0 0 27,849 19,855 10,028 *8,501 45,600 9,613 12,801 0 5,224 306

27 Enter the applicable percent of contract research expenses............ 21,991,435 6,119 215,528 139,717 16,910 12,731,657 3,354,201 105,941 1,914,656 700,695 52,498 2,476,175 *149,351 58,944 69,042

28 Total qualified research expenses (sum 24-27) [4]........................... 140,687,454 96,769 1,241,919 227,347 263,055 86,877,917 13,222,180 248,327 24,668,105 2,150,730 405,244 9,966,276 381,445 624,431 313,709

29 Enter total qualified research for prior 3 tax years............................. 356,593,330 270,241 2,445,750 606,016 626,194 236,556,391 34,733,746 489,184 49,908,001 4,649,142 877,474 22,621,267 716,854 1,336,076 756,993

34 Alternative Simplified Credit [6].......................................................... 7,275,659 4,663 75,491 28,126 15,167 4,394,843 476,278 14,831 1,477,620 121,875 23,394 566,949 23,730 36,040 16,652

Section C-Current-Year Credit.

37 Passthrough rsrch cr(s) from prtnshp, S corp, est, or trust............... 168,916 216 713 169 730 66,338 5,411 1,084 11,363 39,467 296 13,292 28,095 1,662 *81

38 Current-year credit for Increasing Research Activities [3][6]............. 10,842,567 8,239 79,614 51,640 24,074 6,594,799 769,282 20,444 1,747,717 226,544 28,087 1,126,862 85,180 44,822 35,263

Source: Statistics of Income Division: 2012 Corporate Returns Data

Notes:

Table 1. Corporations Claiming a Credit for Increasing Research Activities on Form 6765 [2]

Selected Items, by Sectors, Tax Year 2012 

[All figures are estimates based on samples--money amounts are in thousands of dollars]

[2] Includes returns of active corporations, other than Forms 1120S, 1120-REIT, and 1120-RIC

[8] "Various Services" include educational services; health care and social assistance; arts, entertainment, and recreation; accommodoation and food services; and other services.

[7] Component data for each section also includes amounts for those credit claimants not claiming the specific section credit. 

[6] Line 17 and Section B line 34, and line 38 include credit amounts for which some corporations did not provide component data.

[5] Line 11 , Average annual gross receipts, are defined as the average annual gross receipts for the 4 tax years preceding the tax year for which the credit is being determined.

[4] Line 9 and Section B line 28 do not equal the sum of their components as shown in this table, because some corporations only reported these total lines.

[3] Number of credit claimants and Line 38 amount both include corporations that only reported data on Line(s) 37 and/or 38.

Item All sectors

Sectors

* Estimate should be used with caution because of the small number of returns on which it was based.

[1] This amount is less than $500.

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Returns

Under $25,000 2,176 364,153

$25,000 under $100,000 223 15,050

$100,000 under $250,000 300 22,557

$250,000 under $500,000 489 22,757

$500,000 under $1,000,000 762 32,143

$1,000,000 under $2,500,000 1,339 66,049

$2,500,000 under $5,000,000 1,377 83,993

$5,000,000 under $10,000,000 1,439 121,183

$10,000,000 under $50,000,000 3,399 440,053

$50,000,000 under $100,000,000 1,017 219,259

$100,000,000 under $250,000,000 1,056 388,649

$250,000,000 or more 2,295 9,066,724

Total 15,873 10,842,567

Source: Statistics of Income Division: 2001 - 2012 Corporate Returns Data

Notes: 

[1] Includes returns of active corporations, other than Forms 1120S, 

1120-REIT, and 1120-RIC

[2] "Business Receipts" is defined as the gross operating receipts of 

the corporation reduced by the cost of returned goods and 

allowances

Size of Business Receipts (in 

whole dollars)

Current-Year 

Credit Amounts 

($1,000s)

Table 2. Corporations Claiming a Credit for Increasing 

Research Activities [1]

Number of Credit Claimants and Claimed Credit Amounts by 

Size of Business Receipts [2]

Tax Year 2012 

[All figures are estimates based on samples]

Detail may not add due to rounding.

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Line (1) (2)

1

Current-year qualified research 

expenses (QRE) 100 110

2 Average annual gross receipts 1000 1000

3 Fixed-base percentage 6% 6%

4 Tentative base for regular credit Line 1 X Line 3 60 60

5 Minimum 50-percent base Line 1 X 0.5 50 55

6 QRE above base Line 1 - Line 4 40 50

7 Credit Rate 20% 20%

8 Reduced credit rate Line 7 X 0.65 13% 13%

9 Current-year credit Line 6 X Line 8 5.2 6.5

10 Increase in current-year credit

Column (2) - 

Column (1) n.a. 1.3

11 Increase in QRE

Column (2) - 

Column (1) n.a. 10

12 Effective credit rate Line 10 /Line 11 13%

13 Average credit rate Line 9/Line 1 5.2% 5.9%

Line (1) (2)

1 Current-year QRE 100 110

2 Average annual gross receipts 1000 1000

3 Fixed-base percentage 4% 4%

4 Tentative base for regular credit Line 1 X Line 3 40 40

5 Minimum 50-percent base Line 1 X 0.5 50 55

6 QRE above base Line 1 - Line 5 50 55

7 Credit Rate 20% 20%

8 Reduced credit rate Line 7 X 0.65 13% 13%

9 Current-year credit Line 6 X Line 8 6.5 7.15

10 Increase in current-year credit

Column (2) - 

Column (1) n.a. 0.65

11 Increase in QRE

Column (2) - 

Column (1) n.a. 10

12 Effective credit rate Line 10 /Line 11 6.5%

13 Average credit rate Line 9/Line 1 6.5% 6.5%

Table 3.1 Sample Calculation: Increase in R&E Credit from 10-Percent Increase in 

Qualified Research Expenses for Firm Using the Regular Method and Unconstrained 

by 50-Percent Minimum Base

Increase QRE 

by 10 percent

Table 3.2 Sample Calculation: Increase in R&E Credit from 10-Percent Increase in 

Qualified Research Expenses for Firm Using the Regular Method and Constrained by 

50-Percent Minimum Base

Increase QRE 

by 10 percent

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Increase QRE 

by 10 percent

Line (1) (2)

1 Current-year QRE (Year 0) 100 110

2 QRE in Year - 1 95 95

3 QRE in Year - 2 90 90

4 QRE in Year - 3 85 85

5 Past 3-year average QRE (Line 2 + Line 3 + Line 4)/3 90 90

6 Base amount for current year Line 5 X 0.5 45 45

7 QRE above base Line 1 - Line 6 55 65

8 Credit rate 14.0% 14.0%

9 Reduced credit rate Line 8 X 0.65 9.1% 9.1%

10 Current-year credit Line 7 X Line 9 5.01 5.92

11 Change in current-year credit Column (2) - Column (1) n.a. 0.91

12 Increase in QRE Column (2) - Column (1) n.a. 10

13 QRE in Year 1 105 105

14 Base amount for Year 1 (Line 1 + Line 2 + Line 3)/6 47.50 49.17

15 QRE above base for Year 1 Line 13 - Line 14 57.50 55.83

16 Credit amount in Year 1 Line 14 X Line 9 5.23 5.08

17 Change in credit in Year 1 Column (2) - Column (1) n.a. -0.15

18 QRE in Year 2 110 110

19 Base amount for Year 2 (Line 1 + Line 2 + Line 13)/6 50.00 51.67

20 QRE above base for Year 2 Line 18 - Line 19 60.00 58.33

21 Credit amount in Year 2 Line 20 X Line 9 5.46 5.31

22 Change in credit in Year 2 Column (2) - Column (1) n.a. -0.15

23 QRE in Year 3 115 115

24 Base amount for Year 3 (Line 1 + Line 13 + Line 18)/6 52.50 54.17

25 QRE above base for Year 3 Line 23 - Line 24 62.50 60.83

26 Credit amount in Year 3 Line 25 X Line 9 5.69 5.54

27 Change in credit in Year 3 Column (2) - Column (1) n.a. -0.15

28 Change in total credit

Line 11 + Line 17 + Line 22 + 

Line 27 n.a. 0.46

29

Effective credit rate (no 

discounting) Line 28/Line 12 n.a. 4.6%

30 Discount rate n.a. 5.0%

31 Effective credit rate n.a. 5.0%

32 Average credit rate Line 10/Line 1 5.0% 5.4%

Table 3.3 Sample Calculation: Increase in R&E Credit from 10-Percent Increase in Qualified 

Research Expenses for Firm Using the Alternative Simplified Credit (ASC)

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Line

Regular method: 

Unconstrained by 

minimum base

Regular method: 

Constrained by 50-percent 

minimum base

Alternative Simplified 

Credit (ASC)

1 Statutory credit rate 20 20 14

2 Reduced credit rate 13.0 13.0 9.1

3

Effective credit rate with 

no carryforward1 13.0 6.5 5.0

4

Effective credit rate with 

average carryforward2 10.7 5.3 4.1

5 Average credit rate3 5.6 6.5 5.2

6 Share of returns3 5 44 51

7

Share of qualified 

research expenses 

(QRE)3 3 28 69

Notes:

1. This assumes firms have sufficient tax liability to use the full credit in the current year.

Table 4. Statutory, Effective, and Average R&E Credit Rates by Calculation Method, and Share of Returns 

and Qualified Research Expenses, by Calculation Method for Corporate Taxpayers, Tax Year 2013 (percent)

2. According to OTA calculations on average 82 percent of the current-year credit will eventually be used 

3. According to OTA calculations using the 2013 SOI corporate sample. Returns not reporting information in 

appropriate fields for the calculations were dropped. This eliminated 9 percent of returns, but these returns only 

accounted for 1 percent of the reported credit.

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U.S. Department of the Treasury

Office of Tax Analysis

October 12, 2016
No tax 

preference

Equipment 

with 7-year 

tax life

Expensing of 

R&E 

expenditures

Regular credit: 

Unconstrained by 

minimum base

Regular credit: 

Constrained by 50-

percent minimum 

base

Alternative 

Simplified 

Credit (ASC)

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

Corporate statutory tax rate t 35% 35% 35% 35% 35% 35%

Inflation rate π 2% 2% 2% 2% 2% 2%

Nominal discount rate r 7% 7% 7% 7% 7% 7%

Real return on equity r-π 5% 5% 5% 5% 5% 5%

Economic depreciation rate2 δ 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% 15%

Present-value of depreciation 

deductions z 0.75 0.85 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

R&E effective credit rate k 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 13.0% 6.5% 5.0%

Before-tax rate of return (gross)3 c 22.7% 21.7% 20.0% 16.0% 18.0% 18.5%

Before-tax rate of return (net)4 ρ 7.7% 6.7% 5.0% 1.0% 3.0% 3.5%

Effective tax rate5 ETR 35.0% 25.0% 0.0% -400.0% -66.7% -44.1%

Notes:

5. ETR = (ρ - (r - π))/ρ

Table 5. Sample Cost of Capital and Effective Tax Rate Calculations for Investment in Equipment Versus Research and 

Experimentation (R&E)1

R&E Tax Incentives

1. This assumes an equity-financed investment with one-level of tax. 

2. Economic depreciation rates will vary depending on the specific investment type, assumed to equal in table for illustration.

3. This equals the user cost of capital, which is calculated as (r - π + δ)(1 - tz - k)/(1 - t).

4. This the real pre-tax rate of return net of depreciation. ρ = c - δ

22

U.S. Department of the Treasury

Office of Tax Analysis

October 12, 2016