The R&D Tax Credit Eligibility Test You've Never Been Taught - Episode 02

R&D Tax Credit for Startups: IRS 4-Part Test, Internal-Use Software Rules, and Audit-Ready DocumentationThis episode explains the IRS framework for evaluating R&D tax credit eligibility in clear startup terms, including how to apply the four-part test to specific “business components” rather than an entire product, using an example to show how to isolate the true areas of technical uncertainty and experimentation. It clarifies the difference between external-facing software (standard four-part test) and internal-use software (IUS), which must meet an additional three-part test—innovation, economic risk, and why an off-the-shelf solution wouldn’t work—creating a higher seven-part threshold. The video emphasizes the need for contemporaneous, audit-ready documentation and suggests using existing artifacts from tools like Jira, Confluence, and GitHub, plus quarterly check-ins, to compile evidence over time and reduce audit risk while capturing meaningful credits.