Labs R&D Credit

The R&D Tax Credit is a powerful incentive designed specifically for the work diagnostic, clinical, and analytical labs do every day. It rewards the technical problem-solving inherent in developing new assays and improving testing processes, turning your firm's innovation into a significant tax refund.

Eligibility doesn’t require discovering a new disease. Instead, the credit rewards your process of systematic trial-and-error to arrive at a final, validated test. If your team experimented with different reagents, equipment, or software to resolve technical uncertainty and meet specific accuracy, sensitivity, or throughput goals, you were likely performing qualifying R&D.

Qualifying activities are present throughout the entire development and validation process:

Assay & Method Development
This foundational stage involves creating and testing the core analytical methods.

Developing and validating new, proprietary assays or diagnostic tests (e.g., a new biomarker panel, genetic test, or environmental screen).
Experimenting with new reagents, antibodies, or chemical compounds to improve an existing test's sensitivity, specificity, or stability.
Prototyping and testing new analytical methods (e.g., in HPLC, GC-MS, or PCR) to detect novel compounds or significantly reduce detection limits.

Automation & Software Development
This phase focuses on engineering the lab's workflow for greater speed and accuracy.

Designing, building, and testing custom robotics or automated sample handling and preparation systems to increase throughput.
Developing or significantly improving a proprietary Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) to automate data analysis and sample tracking.
Engineering and testing new integrations between analytical instruments and software to eliminate manual data entry and reduce errors.

Validation & Process Improvement
The technical work required to meet and validate strict quality, safety, and regulatory standards.

Developing new, in-house quality control standards, reference materials, or calibration procedures for a novel test.
Designing and conducting stability studies for new in-house test kits, reagents, or sample-collection devices.
Experimenting with new sample preparation or extraction techniques to improve yield, reduce processing time, or lower costs.

From the first hypothesis to the final validated report, the laboratory development process is filled with qualifying activities that can translate into valuable tax savings.