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The Impact of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act on R&D Tax Strategies

The comprehensive landscape of Research and Development (R&D) tax strategies has been significantly altered with the enactment of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) on July 4, 2025. Historically, R&D expenses have played a pivotal role in fostering innovation across numerous sectors by offering tax deductibility to reduce taxable income. The OBBBA reintroduces the immediate deductibility of domestic R&D expenses, a provision notably reversed by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017, under the new IRC Section 174A. This legislation revives substantial incentives for U.S.-based innovation but retains rigorous capitalization mandates for overseas R&D efforts.

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Defining R&D Expenditures: Commonly recognized as R&D (Research and Development) expenses, these costs are essential for the progression or enhancement of products, including software. Typical expenses include:

  • Employee wages for R&D activities.

  • Materials and supplies consumed during research.

  • Third-party research services contractor costs.

  • Overhead costs related to R&D facilities, such as rent, utilities, insurance, and repairs.

The IRS employs a broad definition to encourage diverse innovative practices.

A Historical Perspective on R&D Expensing: Preceding the TCJA amendments, which began post-2021, companies under old IRC Section 174 could either immediately deduct R&D expenses or capitalize and amortize them over 60 months, a flexibility yielding substantial financial benefits for innovation-centric entities.

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The TCJA's 2022 changes necessitated the capitalization and five-year amortization of all R&D expenditures domestically, with a 15-year period for foreign research. These alterations imposed notable cash tax burdens, primarily affecting start-ups and emerging companies by delaying immediate tax advantages.

R&D Expensing Following the OBBBA: Effective for tax years commencing after December 31, 2024, the OBBBA introduces new distinctions under Section 174A:

  • Domestic R&D Expenditures: These can now be wholly and immediately deducted in the tax year incurred, restoring advantageous pre-2022 conditions that incentivize domestic research projects. Alternatively, businesses may choose to capitalize and amortize these over 60 months.

  • Foreign R&D Expenditures: Continue to follow a 15-year amortization schedule for foreign-conducted research. Notably, immediate recovery of unamortized foreign R&D upon asset disposition is prohibited after May 12, 2025, prompting multinational enterprises to reassess their R&D deployment strategies.

Options for Accelerating Amortized Expenses Under the OBBBA: The Act offers crucial transitional relief for R&D costs capitalized between 2022 and 2024 under prior regulations. Taxpayers can choose from several options beginning post-2024:

  • Full Expensing in 2025: Deduct all remaining unamortized domestic R&D costs in 2025.

  • Two-Year Amortization: Deduct 50% of the unamortized balance in 2025 and 50% in 2026.

  • Continued Amortization: Opt to maintain the original five-year amortization schedule.

  • Eligible Small Businesses: Small businesses, defined as those with averaging annual receipts of $31 million or less over the prior three years, can retroactively apply full expensing rules for tax periods after December 31, 2021, by filing amended returns before July 4, 2026. This includes assessing R&D credit provisions under Section 280C(c).

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Integration with Other Tax Measures: These expensing provisions should be viewed collectively with other tax measures like NOL, bonus depreciation, and global business interest restrictions. As multiple deductions will become available in 2025, an integrated view is essential for strategic tax planning to minimize regular tax liabilities effectively.

Accounting Transformation: The Act considers these transition provisions as automatic accounting method changes, simplifying tax compliance. The allowance to "catch-up" on deductions presents a noteworthy cash inflow opportunity, alleviating prior capitalization burdens. Initial IRS guidance, as seen in Rev Proc 2025-28, allows firms to elect changes by statement rather than filing Form 3115.

Consult with our office to explore modeling these options and formulating the most efficient tax strategy, as these choices might affect related tax provisions, including NOL rules and interest expense limits.

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