Estimate the IRC 41 research credit both ways - Regular and ASC - with exact, fully cited arithmetic.
See it run - a worked example, 100% in this browser tab
The problem
Estimating the research credit means comparing the Regular Method against the Alternative Simplified Credit, applying the 65% contract-research haircut, the 50% base floor, and the 280C reduced-credit election - error-prone work where a single mis-set rate changes the answer.
The local-first solution
This plugin computes QREs and both credit methods with exact arithmetic over the cited IRC 41 and 280C rules, surfacing the dated 280C corporate rate you confirm. It runs entirely in your browser with no key and no network, so no expense data is uploaded.
What it does
QRE buildup: wages plus supplies plus 65% of contract research
Regular Method: 20% of incremental QRE with the 50% base floor
Alternative Simplified Credit at 14% with a prior-3-year base
6% no-base ASC rate when prior-year QREs are missing
16% fixed-base-percentage cap
280C reduced-credit election at the dated corporate rate (0.79 since 2018)
Honest scope
Not tax or legal advice; confirm against IRC 41, the Form 6765 instructions, and Treas. Reg. 1.41 for your facts. The arithmetic is exact, but whether expenses qualify under the 4-part test (41(d)) is a factual and legal determination this tool does not make - it computes the credit given the QRE figures you supply. Basic/energy research, start-up base rules, controlled-group aggregation, the payroll-tax offset, and state credits are not modeled.
Authorities cited
IRC 41(a)(1) - Credit for increasing research activities: 20% of the excess of qualified research expenses for the year over the base amount.
IRC 41(b) - Qualified research expenses: in-house (wages 41(b)(2)(A)(i), supplies 41(b)(2)(A)(ii)) plus 65% of contract-research expenses (41(b)(3)(A)).
IRC 41(c)(1)-(2) - Base amount = fixed-base percentage x average annual gross receipts for the 4 preceding years; the base amount may not be less than 50% of current-year QRE.
IRC 41(c)(3)(C) - The fixed-base percentage may not exceed 16% (0.16).
IRC 41(c)(4)(A) - Alternative Simplified Credit: 14% of the excess of QRE over 50% of the average QRE for the 3 preceding taxable years.
IRC 41(c)(4)(B) - If there are no QREs in any one of the 3 preceding years, the ASC rate is 6% of current-year QRE.
IRC 41(d) - Qualified research and the four-part test (NOT decided by this tool); IRC 41(d)(4) excluded research.
IRC 280C(c)(3) - Reduced-credit election: the credit is reduced by the product of the credit and the highest corporate tax rate (IRC 11(b)); 21% for tax years beginning after 2017 (TCJA), 35% before.
IRS Form 6765 (Credit for Increasing Research Activities) and Instructions - Section A (regular), Section B (ASC), Section C/D - the line-by-line implementation of IRC 41.
Estimate your research credit
Run both methods in your browser and route the estimate into a Sandbox workspace or attach it to a Worklog case. Nothing is uploaded to anyone's cloud.