Register interest with Swanson Reed (opens in a new tab)
  1. Home
  2. Issues

Issues

Issues

Ten plain-language explainers on how success fees work in R&D tax credit claims, who carries the risk when a claim fails, and what could change.

Hands annotating a printed report with a pen.
Reading and annotating

These ten articles explain the questions at the center of the fee debate in plain language. They start with the basics: how a success fee is structured, why a fee tied to the size of a claim can pull against its accuracy, and who repays the credit, interest and any penalties when a claim does not hold. Later articles look at refund claims, what a business usually cannot see when it signs an engagement letter, what professional rules cover and what they leave out, and what good practice looks like. Each article cites its facts to primary sources such as statutes, regulations and official IRS guidance. Swanson Reed's position appears only in boxes labeled "Our position", so you can read the facts separately from the argument. For the full sourced analysis, see the white papers.

In this section

  • Article

    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.

    11 min read

    11 min read

  • Article

    The incentive problem

    Why a fee that rises with the size of a research credit can pull against the accuracy of the claim, explained through the judgment calls that Section 41 requires.

    12 min read

    12 min read

  • Article

    Who bears the risk of an overclaim

    When a research credit is reduced or disallowed, the business repays the tax with interest and may face a penalty. This guide explains the federal rules on each, how the preparer penalty differs, and what decides whether the adviser's fee is affected.

    11 min read

    11 min read

  • Article

    Amended and refund claims

    Research credit refund claims are where contingent fees and IRS scrutiny meet. This guide explains the IRS information requirements for these claims, the Circular 230 rule on contingent fees for refund claims, and the 2014 court decision that limited it.

    11 min read

    11 min read

  • Article

    Information gaps for businesses

    What a company usually cannot see when it signs an R&D tax credit engagement, and the practical questions it can ask about the fee, the review of the claim and the records behind it.

    11 min read

    11 min read

  • Article

    Professional standards and their limits

    Treasury's Circular 230 and the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct both restrict contingent fees for tax return work. This article explains what each set of rules covers, who it reaches, and where its reach stops.

    13 min read

    13 min read

  • Article

    Unregulated claim preparers

    In most of the countries we cover, a person can prepare a research and development tax claim for a fee without holding a professional license. This article sets out, country by country and from official sources, who may do so and what registration or identification each tax authority requires.

    13 min read

    13 min read

  • Article

    What tax authorities changed

    Over the last decade tax authorities in several countries have asked for more information with research and development claims, and in some cases for details of who prepared them. This article sets out those measures and their dates as each authority states them.

    12 min read

    12 min read

  • Article

    What good practice looks like

    Good practice in research credit work is easier to describe than to see. This article sets out four features of a well run engagement, fixed or capped fees, clear fee disclosure, named reviewers and contemporaneous records, and the official rules and guidance each one connects to.

    9 min read

    9 min read

  • Article

    The case for reform

    The argument for a federal prohibition on contingent fees in research credit engagements, set out in one place. The facts are cited; the argument is Swanson Reed's position and is labeled as such.

    11 min read

    11 min read

A person reading at a table by a bright window, with a cup of coffee.

Register interest

Register your interest

Registration is handled by Swanson Reed, the publisher of this site, on its own booking page.

Register interest with Swanson Reed (opens in a new tab)

Opens Swanson Reed's booking page. Swanson Reed publishes this site.