Short answer. Research costs capitalized in 2022-2024 can be recovered two ways. Small businesses can amend those returns under the retroactive Section 174A election until the earlier of July 6, 2026 or each year's refund statute of limitations. Any business can instead deduct the remaining unamortized balance starting with the 2025 return, with no amendment required.
Key facts
| Route 1: amend 2022-2024 | Small businesses only ($31M receipts test); closes July 6, 2026 at the latest |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Credit interplay | Section 280C(c)(2) elections share the July 6, 2026 outer date |
Route one: amend, and recover past tax
The retroactive election turns capitalized 2022-2024 research into refunds.
A small business, meaning average annual gross receipts of $31 million or less under Section 448(c), may elect under OBBBA to apply Section 174A to tax years beginning after December 31, 2021. The mechanics come 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.
The per-year limit has teeth. The refund statute typically runs three years from the original filing, so for many calendar-year filers 2022 is already closed and the live decision is 2023 and 2024. Your CPA confirms year by year; the July date is the outer wall, not a promise that every year is open.
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 recovers tax already paid for 2022-2024 as refunds now; the catch-up takes the same remaining deductions against 2025 and later income. For a company that paid meaningful tax in the capitalization years, refunds usually win, which is why the closing window matters. Your CPA models both against your actual returns.
Deciding before the window closes
The decision is per year, and the documentation need is shared.
The practical sequence: confirm which of 2022-2024 are still open under the statute of limitations, model amend-versus-catch-up with your CPA, and if research credit claims ride along with the amended deductions, 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. If the window closes on you, the catch-up route remains, and the same documentation supports a 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.