Engineering firms of all types, including structural, civil, mechanical, electrical and environmental, are learning about valuable tax incentives. alliantgroup wants all engineering firms to take advantage of valuable tax savings and refunds such as the R&D tax credit and the 179D deduction for the design and construction of energy efficient commercial buildings.

Engineering firms should contact alliantgroup for a complete assessment of the work that is being performed or completed. Experts on the Engineering Industry Team at alliantgroup will guide your firm to optimize every task for maximum tax credits, and uncover savings for work performed. Significant tax savings can be obtained by ensuring that every person on the project is participating in qualifying activities and that structures meet the highest level of energy efficiency to maximize savings.

alliantgroup recently attended the ACEC National Convention. Attendees had the opportunity to meet and hear directly from Dean Zerbe, alliantgroup’s National Managing Director and one of the authors of the federal 179D Energy Tax Incentive while he was Senior Tax Counsel on the Senate Finance Committee.

alliantgroup team members will answer questions for firms that want to know more about the tax credits that are available to engineering firms. Alliantgroup encourages firms to consider every possible tax credit to allow your business to grow, create more jobs, and improve profitability. alliantgroup works with thousands of engineering firms of all sizes to identify tax credits that often are not obvious. Contact alliantgroup today at 800.564.4540.

Alliant Group has helped hundreds of software and technology companies put money back into their businesses by claiming powerful tax incentives. With thousands of pages of federal tax code, it’s no wonder businesses are often unclear about many of the rules and benefits. Yes – there are benefits in the tax code that are available to businesses the software and technology sectors. Alliant Group’s experts explain:

The federal government allocates nearly $9 billion a year to funding the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit, referred to as the “R&D credit,” which is now one of the most lucra¬tive tax incentives available to the software industry. (Many states also offer generous R&D tax credits as well.) In Alliant Group’s experience, this credit is often untapped by software and technology companies, particularly small and medium-sized businesses because they think it’s not within their reach. Alliant Group is here to reprogram this myth!
In just one example (and there are many others), Alliant Group was able to help a $6 million company that designs and develops data management software with claiming $324,000 in federal R&D credits. Here’s the bottom line: If you are developing new software or improving software features or functionality and go through a development process, your activities most likely qualify, amounting to cash back for your business.
“Businesses often think they need to have a laboratory full of scientists wearing white coats to qualify for R&D,” says Dean Zerbe, National Managing Director at Alliant Group and former Senior Tax Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance. In reality, improving a product or a process that already exists can also count as research and development, he says. You don’t have to develop software that is groundbreaking.

Alliant Group’s experts understand that the R&D credit requires that recipients sat¬isfy four tests to qualify. First, you must develop a new or improved business component (e.g. software); sec¬ond, your work must be technological in nature; third, there must be uncertainty; finally, you must engage in a process of ex¬perimentation. Let’s take a closer look:

1) Developing new or improved software
Developing new software or enhancing existing software for improved function, performance reli-ability or quality, processing ability, and expanding the types of data the system can handle satisfies this requirement.

2) Technological in nature
If your programming and development process relies upon principles of physical or biological sciences, engineer¬ing, or computer science, it is deemed technological in nature.

3) Uncertainty
As long as you have some uncertainty as to whether you will be able to develop a new or improved piece of software, how new features should be best integrated, or what the appropriate design of the software will be, you will satisfy the uncertainty test.

4) Process of experimentation
You must engage in a process of evaluat¬ing alternatives designed to eliminate the uncertainty you face in your development process. Alliant Group and our technology clients understand that software development is inher¬ently a process of experimentation involving building out a program, designing a prototype, test¬ing it, evaluating it, determining how and why it didn’t work (since it never works perfectly the first time), and then repeating that cycle.
Contact Alliant Group today about how your business might qualify: 800.564.4540. The Alliant Group team of industry experts will guide you through the process and help you maximize results that equal significant savings and refunds.

Definitions of research and development have been expanded to include efforts by manufacturing firms to develop better products and processes.   Many activities qualify for R&D tax credits under the IRS tax code, and alliantgroup has the expertise on staff to identify qualifying activities that you may have never labeled “R&D.” Activities associated with improving current products and services can qualify for tax incentives in the same way that research and development efforts for new products and services are eligible, and this is where alliantgroup can assist businesses with maximizing the tax credits. alliantgroup encourages all decision makers to seek guidance from experienced specialists like alliantgroup in the earliest stages of any project.

alliantgroup works with manufacturing companies to identify tasks and labor hours that will fall into innovation categories.

• Computer-aided design tools used for innovation in product development
• Development of second-generation product improvements
• Development of tooling and equipment fixture design
• Development of unique computer numerical control programs
• Design of innovative programmable logic controllers
• Design of innovative manufacturing equipment
• Prototyping and three-dimensional solid modeling
• Design of innovative cellular manufacturing processes

alliantgroup works with a manufacturing firm in the identification of production processes that might qualify for R&D tax incentives, including:

• Development of cost-effective and innovative operations
• Improvement to material flow efficiency
• Design of alternate processes
• Prototype design, construction and testing
• Development of processes to meet regulatory requirements

alliantgroup’s Industry Specialization Program brings together experts with the appropriate educational and professional experiences for each client in the manufacturing sector.  Manufacturers often are surprised to find how many of their existing processes will qualify for R&D tax incentives after contacting alliantgroup.  While past efforts can be identified and quantified, the easiest way to track qualifying activities is to contact alliantgroup at the outset.  Tracking methods are easy to implement from the beginning.  Personnel can be identified and assigned to the tasks that will qualify. alliantgroup spends many hours each month teaching clients to optimize every task that will qualify.  alliantgroup experts listen to clients’ project plans and guide the approach to the project within the client’s operations.

The federal and state governments set aside billions of dollars each year to encourage businesses to improve business practices, products, and processes.  alliantgroup stays abreast of the changes to the tax code that will affect existing and potential clients.  Old definitions of R&D have been expanded as an incentive for all businesses to improve.