New IRS Directive on Research Credit May Help Large Businesses
On September 11, 2017, the LB & I Division of the IRS issued a new directive that allows IRS examiners to accept a taxpayer’s determination of its qualified research expenses (QREs) to the extent that the QREs are computed in accordance with ASC 730 Financial Statement R&D. The new directive is a step in the right direction and gives taxpayers who qualify a potential partial safe harbor in calculating the research credit. However, the new directive leaves many open questions.