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November 19, 2015

On December 18, 2015, President Obama signed into law the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015, extending many of the business and individual tax provisions and finally making permanent the research and development (R&D) Tax Credit .

Start-ups and small businesses benefit from changes to R&D Tax Credit

In addition to making the credit permanent, the Act also contains two favorable changes for small businesses and start-ups beginning in 2016. These two noteworthy enhancements are:

• The credit is now able to offset Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) for eligible small businesses, companies with less than $50 million in gross receipts. For small business owners, the AMT limitation was the largest obstacle that kept companies from taking advantage of the research credit. For 2016 and forward this limitation is lifted.
• Start-up companies, whether corporations or partnerships, can apply the credit to offset up to
  $250,000 in payroll taxes beginning in tax years after December 31, 2015. Start-ups are defined as businesses with less than $5 million in gross receipts in the current year and less than five years of historical gross receipts.

A permanent credit provides stability and certainty to all companies while the enhancements are game changers for small businesses.