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A campaign run and paid for by one firm, Swanson Reed (SR Tax Services LLC). It is not a coalition or membership body.

NewWhite paper No. 01: Contingent fees in R&D tax credit claims

When an adviser is paid a percentage of the credit they calculate for you, they are paid more for claiming more. The arithmetic isn't in dispute: a larger claim produces a larger fee, whether or not the larger claim is better supported.

Compare the rulesRead our proposals

ResearchCreditIntegrity.org is operated by SR Tax Services LLC under the Swanson Reed brand. Swanson Reed is an R&D tax advisory firm with a commercial interest in how R&D tax advisers are paid. See our conflicts of interest statement.

Fee rules by country

Countries

United States

Research credit, IRC section 41

Rules as at Oct 11, 2026
  • Scheme

    Credit for increasing research activities under Section 41, claimed on Form 6765.

    Source
  • Tax authority

    Internal Revenue Service (IRS), part of the Treasury Department.

    Source
  • Claim notification

    No advance notice is required; refund claims must include specified information when filed.

    Source
  • Rules on adviser fees

    Circular 230 restricts contingent fees for practitioners, but a 2014 court decision limited it for refund claims filed before an audit.

    Source
  • Preparer identification

    A paid preparer must enter an identifying number on the return or refund claim; Form 6765 has no preparer field.

    Source
  • Professional body rules

    AICPA members in public practice may not prepare an original or amended return or refund claim for a contingent fee.

    Source
Fact Each answer links to the official source.Open the United States page

Who is behind this

Conflicts of interest statement

This initiative is run and paid for by Swanson Reed, a fixed-fee R&D tax adviser. We're a for-profit firm and we have a direct commercial interest in the outcome: we don't charge success fees, and a ban would remove a pricing model we compete against.

We'd rather put that at the top of the page than have you find it later. The argument stands on its own or it doesn't, and you're better placed to judge it knowing exactly who is making it.

Today this initiative is one firm. If other advisers, accountants or businesses want to add their support to the legislative position, we'll list them here. Support means support for the position — nothing more. We don't coordinate pricing with other firms and won't.

Why this matters

Who carries the cost when a claim does not hold

And the consequences of a claim that doesn't hold fall on the business, not the adviser. The disallowed credit, the interest, any penalties, the professional fees of responding to an examination, the months of disruption — all of it lands on the taxpayer. Some advisers include audit support. Almost none carry the tax.

Our position: We are asking Congress to prohibit contingent fees — commonly called success fees — in federal research and development tax credit engagements, so that advisers are paid for the work they perform rather than for the size of the claim they produce.

What we publish

Proposals, research and a running record of rule changes.

Browse everything
Our position · Proposal 1 of 6

Fee disclosure on the claim

When a business files a federal research credit claim, it should state how the person who prepared the claim was paid. Form 6765 is the natural place to ask.

Read the proposal White paper No. 01

Contingent fees in R&D tax credit claims

White paperRead the paper
Legislative trackerFull tracker
Issues explained

How success fees work

A plain-language guide to how contingent fee arrangements are built in R&D tax credit work, and to the federal rule in Circular 230 that restricts them, including what that rule does not reach.

Read the explainer Policy brief

Contingent fees in R&D tax credit claims (brief)

Some federal research credit claims are prepared for a fee calculated as a share of the credit. This brief summarizes how those fees work, the incentive they create, the rules that restrict them and where those rules stop.

Read the brief Our position

Six proposals

  • Limits on contingent fees for refund claims
  • Preparer identification
  • Shared responsibility for overclaims
See all six

What we do

Federal legislative advocacy

We develop publicly available model statutory language for a prohibition on contingent fees in research credit engagements, publish policy research for the consideration of lawmakers and the public, and file formal written comments in response to public notices on federal legislation and proposed rules affecting the credit. Our positions are published here in full. Our work is directed at the federal credit under Section 41; we take no position on state programs.

Analysis and evidence

Policy arguments are only as good as the record behind them. We publish analysis of how contingent fee structures shape claim behavior and audit exposure, with the methodology set out alongside it so anyone — including those who disagree — can test the work. We analyze the practice, not individual firms.

Taxpayer education

At knowyourfees.org we publish plain-language guidance for businesses: what a contingent fee is and how it's calculated, the questions worth asking before signing, how to read the indemnity and audit-support clauses in an engagement letter, and what actually happens if a claim is examined.

Professional standards

Treasury's rules already restrict contingent fees across much of federal tax practice. We engage with the IRS and Treasury on how those standards should apply to research credit work, and on the documentation and preparer-conduct rules that determine whether a claim can be substantiated at all.

Contact us: hello@researchcreditintegrity.org

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KnowYourFees.org is also published by Swanson Reed.

Two kinds of content, always labeled

So you can tell what is established from what we argue for.

Fact

Rules, dates and figures

Each fact is cited to an official source, and country pages show the date their rules are stated as at.

Our position

What we argue for

These are the views of Swanson Reed, which publishes this site. Conflicts of interest

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Swanson Reed services

Record support, or book a call

To record support for the position, email hello@researchcreditintegrity.org with "Support" in the subject line. If you want to talk to Swanson Reed about its commercial services, you can book a call at swansonreed.com/bookings. Booking a call does not record support, and recording support does not sign you up for any service or marketing.

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