MAINSTREET - Research & Development Tax Credit Assessment

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Let's start with the basics

Quick Check · Step 1 of 5

A few quick questions first — about 1 minute — and we'll show you an instant estimate of your R&D credit before the detailed assessment.

Company Name *

Required

Your name *

Required

Work email *

Valid email required

Phone number *

Required

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What does your team build or improve?

Quick Check · Step 2 of 5

Pick everything that sounds like work your company does. There are no wrong answers — this just helps us gauge what might qualify.

Select all that apply *

Software, apps, or AI/ML models New products or prototypes Manufacturing or process improvements Formulas, materials, or chemistry Engineering or design work Testing, QA, or iterating on designs Something else technical

Please pick at least one

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Tell us about your team

Quick Check · Step 3 of 5

Rough numbers are perfectly fine. We use your technical headcount to size the estimate — wages for technical people are the biggest driver of the credit.

W-2 employees *

Required

1099 contractors

People doing technical / R&D work *

Required

Who counts as technical? Engineers, developers, scientists, lab or production staff, designers — anyone hands-on with building, testing, or improving your product or process.

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What is the company's financial status?

Quick Check · Step 4 of 5

This decides how you get the credit — as a cash refund on payroll taxes, a reduction of income tax, or banked for later.

Which best describes your business? *

Profitable — we pay income tax Earning revenue, not yet profitable Pre-revenue / early startup

Please select one

Are you a young, small company? *

Roughly: under $5M in revenue and within your first 5 years of having sales. This unlocks a cash-back payroll option.

Yes No Not sure

Please select one

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Who retains ownership of the finished product or work completed?

Quick Check · Step 5 of 5

Last quick one. When your team builds or improves something, do you keep the rights to it?

Do you keep ownership of the work? *

Yes — we own it Sometimes / partly No — clients own it Not sure

Please select one

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Your instant estimate

Based on your Quick Check

Estimated R&D Credit

$0

Preliminary range — we'll refine it together.

How you'd use it

This is a preliminary estimate for planning only — not a guarantee or tax advice. The full assessment below sharpens it.

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Business Basics

Full Assessment · A few details about the company

We've saved your contact info from the Quick Check, so we won't ask again. Just a few company details here.

Your role / title *

Required

EIN / Tax ID

Entity Type *

Required

Tax Year Being Assessed *

Required

State of Incorporation *

Required

Year Business Founded *

Required

Primary Industry / Business Activity *

Required

Who prepares your business taxes?

CPA Firm Internal Accountant DIY / Software Not yet filed

Has the business been acquired or had a major ownership change in the past 3 years?

Yes No In Progress

Are you the sole owner / shareholder?

Yes — sole owner No — multiple shareholders

Total Number of Shareholders / Owners

Do you or another shareholder control any other business?

"Control" generally means owning 50% or more of another business.

Yes No Unsure

This doesn't disqualify you — related entities just need to be disclosed in your credit study.

Entity Name(s) and Approximate Formation Date(s)

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Financial Snapshot

Full Assessment · A few money questions

Why this matters: The credit is built mostly from what you pay the people doing the technical work. You already gave us your headcount in the Quick Check — here we just confirm it and add a little context.

Your team (from the Quick Check)

0

W-2 employees

0

1099 contractors

0

Technical / R&D

Annual Gross Revenue (Tax Year)

Did the business owe federal income tax this year? *

Required

Did you receive any government grants, SBIR/STTR awards, or funded research contracts this year?

Yes No Unsure

Grant / Contract Details

Approx. amount, what it covered, and the funding source

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Does the work qualify?

Full Assessment · Four plain-English checks

The IRS looks for four things. Answer honestly — even a "partly" on some of these still adds up to real credits.

1. Were you making something new or better — a product, process, software, formula, or technique?

e.g. a new product, a faster production line, internal software, a new recipe

Yes Partly Not sure No

2. Was the R&D work performed technological in nature? Based on engineering, mathematics, or other scientific principles? eg: chemistry, physics, software coding, etc

No PhD required — software, food science, and shop-floor engineering all count

Yes Partly Not sure No

3. Was the outcome uncertain at the start — could it have failed, or did you not know how to get there?

e.g. "We weren't sure the process would hit the target yield" or "We didn't know if it would scale"

Yes Partly Not sure No

4. Did you experiment to figure it out — testing options, building prototypes, or trial and error?

e.g. A/B tests, prototype builds, lab experiments, iterative design

Yes Partly Not sure No

In your own words, what was tricky or uncertain? (optional)

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The work & the costs

Full Assessment · Details that size the credit

What kinds of R&D work do you do? *

Select all that apply — we've pre-checked a few based on your Quick Check.

New product development Process / production improvement Software / algorithms (internal use) Software / algorithms (sold to customers) Formula / formulation R&D Prototype / testing / QA Engineering design Other

Briefly describe your main R&D project(s) this year *

Plain English is great — e.g. "We developed a gluten-free cookie that took 6 months of kitchen trials" or "We built an inventory-optimization algorithm from scratch."

Please provide a brief description

US-based people doing or supervising the R&D

List the people whose work qualifies. This helps us calculate your Qualified Research Expenses. Add as many as apply.

First & Last Name Job Title % of Time on R&D (Est.)

Did you spend on raw materials or supplies for the R&D? *

Yes No Unsure

Please select an option

Estimated R&D Supply / Material Costs

Did you pay US-based contractors or firms to do R&D for you? *

Yes No

Please select an option

Estimated Contractor / Vendor R&D Spend

Only 65% of contractor costs count toward the credit

Any US-based cloud or server-hosting costs used for R&D? *

e.g. AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, dedicated servers used in development or testing

Yes No Unsure

Please select an option

Estimated Cloud / Server Hosting Costs

What documentation do you have? (Select all that apply)

Payroll records Project notes / lab notebooks Engineering drawings / specs Prototype / test records Vendor / supply invoices Prior tax returns Github Commits General Ledger reports None yet

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Whose projects were these?

Full Assessment · How the work was set up

Work done purely for a client — where you're paid no matter what and don't keep the rights — can count as "funded research" and may not qualify. These quick questions help us flag that early.

Were these your own projects, or a client's? *

Our own projects A client's projects Both

Please select an option

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History & preferences

Full Assessment · Almost done

Have you claimed R&D tax credits before? *

Yes — multiple years Yes — one year No — first time Unsure

Please select an option

How did you hear about MainStreet? *

Required

Name of CPA / Accountant or Firm

Anything else you'd like the team to know? (optional)

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Upload supporting documents

Full Assessment · Optional but helpful

These are optional — you can always send them later — but anything you share now speeds up your review. Everything is encrypted and confidential.

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Most recent business tax return

Federal return (PDF) for the tax year you're assessing

Tap to upload

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Payroll summary / report

Year-end payroll report or employee roster with wages

Tap to upload

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R&D expense records

Contractor invoices, supply receipts, or cloud bills

Tap to upload

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General ledger report

Year-end GL export (PDF, Excel, or CSV)

Tap to upload

Accepted: PDF, Word, Excel, CSV, or images · Max ~25MB each

Unlock Your R&D Tax Credit
— Before It's Too Late

Your assessment is in.

Unlock Your R&D Tax Credit— Before It's Too Late

Your assessment is in.

Unlock Your R&D Tax Credit
— Before It's Too Late