I don't have time to look at the details of this particular incentive, but I know from personal experience that many R&D tax credits do not require earth-shaking research to qualify.
I own two SaaS companies that have received R&D credits and I'm also an investor in a few other businesses, including an injection molding company, that have received R&D tax credits. The injection molding company mostly makes cups for gas stations. Which is not exactly quantum computing.
I used the same company to get all of the credits. They had a staff of tax attorneys, accountants, engineers, etc. that worked with us to see what we could qualify to receive. They looked at about 30 different programs to get tax incentives or reduce expenses. And they worked entirely on a contingency basis, where we only paid them a percentage of what we saved. They were very accurate in their initial assessments, and we have not been audited since receiving the incentives (/knock on wood/)
At one point, they commented that the bane of their existence (as tax incentive specialists) was misinformed accountants that thought you had to have an army of lab coats or a clean room in order to qualify.
I would agree, however, that Gusto is trying to drum up business.
I own two SaaS companies that have received R&D credits and I'm also an investor in a few other businesses, including an injection molding company, that have received R&D tax credits. The injection molding company mostly makes cups for gas stations. Which is not exactly quantum computing.
I used the same company to get all of the credits. They had a staff of tax attorneys, accountants, engineers, etc. that worked with us to see what we could qualify to receive. They looked at about 30 different programs to get tax incentives or reduce expenses. And they worked entirely on a contingency basis, where we only paid them a percentage of what we saved. They were very accurate in their initial assessments, and we have not been audited since receiving the incentives (/knock on wood/)
At one point, they commented that the bane of their existence (as tax incentive specialists) was misinformed accountants that thought you had to have an army of lab coats or a clean room in order to qualify.
I would agree, however, that Gusto is trying to drum up business.