Tool

Eligibility and Documentation Checklists

What makes a business eligible, and what evidence a claim needs before an examiner asks for it.

Checklist One

Business Eligibility

The business operates in the United States and pays US employees or US-based contractors.
Development work aims to improve function, performance, reliability or quality.
The work relies on hard science rather than aesthetics, market research or management judgement.
Technical uncertainty existed at the start of the project about capability, method or design.
Alternatives were evaluated through modelling, simulation, prototyping or systematic testing.
The business retains financial risk and substantial rights in the results.
Activity is separable from routine quality control, maintenance and post-production support.
Prior-year returns are still within the amendment window, if a retrospective claim is intended.

Checklist Two

Project-level narratives describing uncertainty, alternatives evaluated and outcomes.
Payroll records identifying who performed, supervised or supported the research.
Time allocation evidence, whether timesheets, sprint records or a defensible allocation method.
General ledger detail for supplies consumed in the research process.
Contracts with third-party developers showing risk allocation and rights in the results.
Design reviews, test plans, test results and failure analyses.
Version control history, issue tracker records or lab notebooks contemporaneous with the work.
Cloud computing invoices attributable to development and testing environments.
Board or management approvals evidencing the project scope and objectives.
A written methodology memorandum explaining the base amount and calculation method chosen.

A scoping conversation clarifies exposure, open IDRs, and whether readiness or active defense is the priority.