Short answer. The retroactive Section 174A election that let small businesses amend 2022-2024 closed on July 6, 2026. Two paths outlive it: any business can deduct the remaining unamortized balance starting with the 2025 return with no amendment required, and amended Section 41 credit claims stay available for years still open under the normal refund statute of limitations.
Key facts
| Route 1: amend to deduct (closed) | Small businesses only ($31M receipts test); the retroactive Section 174A election closed July 6, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Route 2: catch-up deduction | Any size; remaining balance on the 2025 return or spread over two years |
| 2022 caution | The refund statute of limitations may already bar 2022 for timely filers |
| Amended credit claims | Section 41 credit claims follow the normal refund statute of limitations, separate from the July 6 date |
Route one: amend to deduct (this window has closed)
The retroactive election turned capitalized 2022-2024 research into refunds. It closed on July 6, 2026.
A small business, meaning average annual gross receipts of $31 million or less under Section 448(c), could elect under OBBBA to apply Section 174A to tax years beginning after December 31, 2021. The mechanics came from Rev. Proc. 2025-28: file the election and the amended returns by the earlier of July 6, 2026 or the refund statute of limitations for the year. Because July 6, 2026 has passed, this deduction-amend route is now closed for every year.
What remains for those same years is the research credit. Claiming the Section 41 credit on an amended return follows the normal refund statute, typically three years from the original filing, which the July 6 outer date never governed. For many calendar-year filers 2023 and 2024 are still open for an amended credit claim; your CPA confirms year by year.
Route two: the catch-up deduction
Missing the window does not strand the deductions; it changes their timing.
Separately from the retroactive election, OBBBA lets taxpayers deduct the unamortized balance of 2022-2024 domestic research costs beginning with the first tax year after December 31, 2024 - on the 2025 return - either all at once or spread across two years. This route has no gross-receipts test and no July deadline, and it requires no amended returns.
The difference is timing, not total. Amending recovered tax already paid for 2022-2024 as refunds; the catch-up takes the same remaining deductions against 2025 and later income. With the amend route now closed, the catch-up deduction is the remaining way to recover the capitalized 2022-2024 costs themselves, while the research credit for open years is claimed separately. Your CPA models the options against your actual returns.
Deciding now that the window has closed
The decision is per year, and the documentation need is shared.
The practical sequence: confirm which of 2022-2024 are still open under the refund statute of limitations, decide with your CPA between the 2025-return catch-up deduction and an amended Section 41 credit claim for the open years, and line up the Section 41 documentation before filing - refund claims must identify business components and research activities up front.
R&D Binder produces that documentation per claim year from your commit history and payroll register. We are documentation only: your CPA makes the elections, prepares the returns, and files. The same per-year documentation supports an amended credit claim for an open year or a current 2025 credit claim.
Keep going
The rest of the amended-return cluster, and where the binder fits:
Sources
Every claim on this page traces to a primary authority. Each source below is independent and verifiable.
- Rev. Proc. 2025-28 (procedural guidance for OBBBA Section 174A elections and amended returns) - Internal Revenue Service
- 26 U.S.C. ยง 174A (domestic research and experimental expenditures) - Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
- BDO, IRS Issues Procedural Guidance on OBBBA Treatment of R&E Expenditures - BDO
- Cherry Bekaert, Rev. Proc. 2025-28: New Guidance on Section 174A - Cherry Bekaert
Get documentation built to survive an exam
Whichever route your CPA picks, the research documentation is the shared ingredient. R&D Binder builds it per year from evidence that already exists.