How much of Delaware's R&D credit comes back as cash?

The refund is not limited to small companies or to a sector. What matters is where the work happens: the research has to be conducted in Delaware. A company incorporated in Delaware with its engineers in another state has no Delaware research to claim.

Size changes the amount. A small business, meaning average annual gross receipts under an indexed threshold of $26,071,000 for 2025 and $26,767,000 for 2026 (originally $20 million), doubles its credit. Most pre-profit SaaS companies fall well under that line.

The credit is 10 percent of the increase in Delaware research over a base, or 50 percent of the Delaware-apportioned federal alternative simplified credit. For a small business those become 20 percent and 100 percent. With no statewide cap or proration, the amount you compute is the amount in play, and the refund is not reduced because other companies claimed heavily that year.

An illustrative example with round numbers: a small SaaS company whose Delaware-apportioned federal alternative simplified credit is $30,000 takes 100 percent of it, a $30,000 Delaware credit. If it owes $2,000 of Delaware tax, the credit covers that $2,000 and the remaining $28,000 is paid as a refund. If it owes nothing, the full $30,000 comes back.

The credit is claimed on Form BUS-RDC. The form does not simply ride along with the return: it must be filed with the Division of Revenue and approved by September 15 after the tax year ends. For a calendar-year company, research done in 2026 has a September 15, 2027 date.

Because approval is part of the requirement, filing on September 14 leaves no room. Plan to have the credit computation and the supporting records finished well before the summer, so the Division has time to act.

In most states, credit above the tax becomes a carryforward to track for years. In Delaware the excess is paid out under 30 Del. C. 2070(c), so a company that computes and files correctly ends the year with its credit either used against tax or received as cash. That makes the September 15 approval the one date that controls the value.

Delaware pays money out, so the research behind the credit has to hold up. The Delaware claim builds on the federal credit, whether through the apportioned alternative simplified credit or the incremental calculation, which means the federal record of qualified research is where the support starts.

R&D Binder produces the federal Section 41 documentation from your commit history and payroll that the Delaware credit rests on. Your CPA files Form BUS-RDC, and whether your facts qualify is your CPA's call.

• Delaware's R&D credit (full overview)
• Delaware R&D credit rate
• Delaware vs the federal credit
• The Section 41 four-part test
• What is a qualified research expense (QRE)?
• Form 6765 and Section G
• Connecticut R&D credit
• Iowa R&D credit

• Delaware Code Online, Title 30 Chapter 20 Subchapter VIII (30 Del. C. 2070-2073) - State of Delaware
• Delaware Division of Revenue, BUS-RDC instructions (2025) - Delaware Division of Revenue
• Delaware Division of Revenue, Annual Threshold Adjustment Factor for CY26 - Delaware Division of Revenue
• James Moore, Delaware R&D tax credit (May 2026) - James Moore & Co.