{"id":1628,"date":"2026-01-12T13:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T13:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leyton.majjane.agency\/us\/insights\/articles\/filling-deadline-2026-key-rd-tax-credit-dates\/"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T22:00:00","slug":"filling-deadline-2026-key-rd-tax-credit-dates","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leyton.com\/us\/insights\/articles\/filling-deadline-2026-key-rd-tax-credit-dates\/","title":{"rendered":"Filing Deadline 2026: Key R&#038;D Tax Credit Dates"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>With the R&amp;D tax credit Deadline 2026 fast approaching, many businesses risk leaving money on the table simply because they are unaware of the key dates that apply to them. <\/p>\n<p>2025 was a year full of significant legislative updates and tax code changes, many of which impacted Leyton\u2019s services in areas such as the Credit for Increasing Research Activities (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/us\/rd-tax-credit-never-claimed\/\">R&amp;D Credit<\/a><\/strong>), <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/us\/grants-and-incentives\/\">federal and state Grant Incentives<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/us\/state-and-local-tax-s-a-l-t\/\">State and Local Tax<\/a><\/strong>, and Commercial Real Estate incentives such as the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/us\/energy-efficiency-incentives\/179d-energy-efficiency-commercial-building-property-deduction\/\">179D deduction<\/a><\/strong> or <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/us\/energy-efficiency-incentives\/45l-energy-efficient-home-tax-credit\/\">45L tax credit<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>In case you missed it, see our year-end webinar here for more detail on these changes within each of these areas. <\/p>\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed aligncenter is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"2025 in Review: Key Tax &amp; Industry Trends Shaping 2026\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TN009h1yVUk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>The rest of this article applies specifically to important dates and deadlines related to the R&amp;D tax Credit<\/strong>, as we enter the new calendar and tax years.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2026 (Tax Year 2025) Entity Filing Deadlines :<\/h2>\n<p><strong>March 16<sup>th<\/sup> (Monday):<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-leyton-orion-block-list list-block undefined\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<ul>\n<li>Partnerships \u2013 Form 1065<\/li>\n<li>S Corporations \u2013 Form 1120-S<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>April 15th (Wednesday):<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-leyton-orion-block-list list-block undefined\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<ul>\n<li>Individuals \u2013 Form 1040 including Schedule C<\/li>\n<li>Corporations \u2013 Form 1120, Form 1120-F<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Forms 7004, which enable returns to be filed on extension, must be filed by the entity\u2019s applicable timely filing deadline listed above. Extensions push the original return due date by six months.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Amended Returns: Statute of Limitations<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The R&amp;D Credit can be claimed retroactively, up to three tax years prior, depending on past returns\u2019 original filing dates and the statute of limitations<\/strong>. Currently, for example a company may be able to claim the credit as far back as tax year 2022, assuming it is a calendar-year filer. <\/p>\n<p>Tax year 2022 (TY25 minus three years) will be used to illustrate the statute below:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-leyton-orion-block-list list-block undefined\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<ul>\n<li>If tax year 2022 was filed timely, by 3\/15\/2023, taxpayers have until 3\/15\/2026 to amend the entity return. This is even if the return was filed prior to the original filing deadline (in late February, for example).<\/li>\n<li>If tax year 2022 was filed on extension, taxpayers have until the exact filing date of the original return, plus three years. A taxpayer whose extension pushed their original filing deadline to 9\/15 of 2023, but filed the return on 8\/15\/2023, for example, would only have until 8\/15\/2026 to amend the tax year 2022 return. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Deadline to Amend 2022 \u2013 2024 Returns without Capitalizing R&amp;D Costs<\/h2>\n<p>Another major impact of the <strong>One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB)<\/strong> and subsequent Rev Proc. 2025-28 was to allow for \u2018retroactive relief\u2019 of the previous requirement to capitalize domestic-based R&amp;D costs.<\/p>\n<p>See our past articles on the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/leyton.com\/us\/insights\/articles\/obbb-tax-reform-what-it-really-means-for-businesses\/\">OBBB and Rev Proc. 2025-28<\/a><\/strong> for more detailed guidance on these updates. Essentially, eligible small businesses can amend tax years 2022 \u2013 2024 to claim the credit without capitalizing R&amp;D costs. If R&amp;D costs were capitalized on original returns, they can be amended to reinstate full expensing of such costs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The deadline to amend these returns and avoid capitalizing R&amp;D costs is 7\/6\/2026 for all tax years, 2022 \u2013 2024<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>There is no need to capitalize domestic R&amp;D costs in tax years 2025 and onward, per the OBBB. For purposes of the retroactive relief, companies qualify as eligible small businesses if their average gross receipts from 2022\u20132024 are under $30M per year. If companies would rather forego amending returns, all remaining amortization expense of R&amp;D costs can be accelerated:<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-leyton-orion-block-list list-block undefined\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<ul>\n<li>100% in 2025<\/li>\n<li>or 50%\/50% in 2025\/2026<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>These dates are extremely important, as companies can lose out on <strong>five to six-figure credit amounts<\/strong> that they are entitled to, simply due to missing an amendment deadline.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Leyton\u2019s R&amp;D Study Process and Why to File Timely<\/h2>\n<p><strong>We always recommend that the R&amp;D credit claim is included in a company\u2019s original return filing<\/strong>, to avoid amendments and the associated costs and waiting period. <\/p>\n<p>As the IRS\u2019 workforce continues to decrease (25% just in calendar year 2025), the waiting period for amended returns processing and associated refunds can be several months to over a year.<\/p>\n<p>To facilitate including the R&amp;D Form in timely-filed returns, we recommend that the R&amp;D study starts at least a month and a half prior to a company\u2019s filing deadline in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The R&amp;D study entails technical interviews, data gathering of both financial and technical support documents, and a thorough analysis of qualified costs and their nexus to qualified projects. <\/p>\n<p>Leyton\u2019s process also entails a detailed internal QC review &amp; generation of a Technical Report, which serves to substantiate all activities and costs being qualified for the credit.<\/p>\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-leyton-orion-block-list list-block undefined\">\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col\">\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/pub\/irs-pdf\/p509.pdf\">IRS &#8211; Publication 509 Tax Calendar For Use in 2026<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the R&amp;D tax credit Deadline 2026 fast approaching, many businesses risk leaving money on the table simply because they are unaware of the key dates that apply to them. 2025 was a year full of significant legislative updates and tax code changes, many of which impacted Leyton\u2019s services in areas such as the Credit [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1629,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69,75,227],"tags":[229],"expertise":[370],"class_list":["post-1628","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rd-tax-credit","category-rd-tax-credit-en","category-tax-updates","tag-obbb","expertise-innovation-funding-incentives"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.1 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Filing Deadline 2026: Key R&amp;D Tax Credit Dates<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stay ahead of IRS deadline with key 2026 R&amp;D tax credit filing dates, amendment windows for 2022\u20132024, and practical guidance.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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