Your company is owed a tax credit.
We'll get it for you.
If you pay engineers or technical contractors, the IRS owes you 6–8% of that spend back. Every year.
Free 15-min call. No commitment.
How much money are you leaving on the table?
$200,000
Your estimated annual credit
$12K–$16K
per year
With 3 years of amended returns
$36K–$48K
Year 1 estimate based on 6–8% of qualifying expenses. Future years can reach 14% as your company grows.
Real credit estimates by team size
Solo founder + 1 engineer
~$170K qualifying expenses
$10K–$14K
Founder + 3 engineers
~$400K qualifying expenses
$24K–$32K
12-person team (engineers + designers)
~$950K qualifying expenses
$57K–$76K
Estimates include W-2 salaries and 1099 contractor spend. Actual credits depend on qualifying activities.
R&D credits shouldn't cost more than they're worth.
The typical options
Big firms
20–30% fee, $100K minimums
CPAs
$5K–8K flat fee on a ~$10K credit
DIY
Weeks of IRS documentation work
With Indie Credit
- 10% of your credit. That’s it.
- Fully contingent — no upfront cost.
- Upload two files. We handle the rest.
- IRS-ready study delivered in one week.
“Our CPA quoted $8,000 for a $14,000 credit. Half the money gone, just to prove it was ours.”
Three steps. Minimal effort on your end.
Free 15-minute call
We'll confirm you qualify and estimate your credit.
Upload two files
Payroll or contractor payment export + project management export or Git history. 5–10 minutes of your time.
IRS-ready paperwork in a week
We deliver a complete credit study — narratives, calculations, and workpapers — ready to hand to your tax preparer.
If you're building technology, you probably qualify.
It’s not just for biotech labs. Writing code, building products, solving technical problems — that’s qualifying R&D.
You qualify if you're:
- Developing new software or features
- Improving an existing product's performance
- Building APIs or integrations
- Creating algorithms or data pipelines
- Prototyping hardware or embedded systems
Real examples:
- 3-person SaaS team — $18K credit from building a scheduling engine
- Solo founder + 1 engineer — $11K credit from search algorithm improvements
- 12-person company — $52K credit from internal tools and API development
Not sure? We'll tell you in 15 minutes on a free call.
Worth at least $10,000/yr for most teams
Built by founders, for founders.
We claimed $18,000 in R&D credits this year for our own company. Big firms wouldn't take our call. Our CPA wanted $8K for a $14K credit. So we built a better way — and are sharing the love. Every dollar you've earned should stay yours.
Small teams deserve the same tax benefits as companies with $50K/year tax advisors.
We provide complete, transparent documentation — everything you need to file with confidence.
Credits you’ve already earned are waiting.
Every year you wait, a year of unclaimed credits disappears for good.
Claim the last 3 years
You can amend returns going back 3 years. Right now that reaches TY2022. That’s three years of unclaimed money.
Year 1 is 6%. Year 2+ is 14%.
Your first year’s rate is ~6%. Once you have a base year, it jumps to 14% of growth. Start now to unlock it.
Credits carry forward 20 years
Can’t use it all this year? It rolls forward. Credits don’t expire.
Pre-revenue? Still works.
Companies under $5M revenue can apply up to $500K/year in credits against payroll taxes. Real cash back, even with zero profit.
Frequently asked questions
What are R&D tax credits?
A federal credit that returns 6–8% of qualifying R&D expenses — software development, hardware prototyping, technical problem-solving. Most companies building technology qualify.
I’m not profitable yet. Can I still claim?
Yes. Companies under $5M in revenue can offset payroll taxes — up to $500K/year. Real money back even with zero profit. Unused credits carry forward 20 years.
It’s a small team. Is it worth it?
$150K+ in engineering salaries and contractor spend typically means a $10K–$15K credit. That’s significant money for 5 minutes of your time.
What do I need to give you?
Two things: (1) Payroll or contractor payment export from Gusto, Rippling, ADP, etc. (2) Export from your project tool — Jira, Linear, Asana, Trello, etc. No project tool? We can analyze your Git commit history instead. Takes 5–10 minutes.
What if I don’t use Jira, Linear, or a project management tool?
No problem — we can analyze your Git commit history and pull requests instead. For many engineering-led teams, Git is actually richer documentation of your technical work than a project tool export. We’ll look at commit messages, branches, and PRs to reconstruct what your team built and why.
Will this trigger an audit?
Millions of companies claim R&D credits every year. We provide full IRS-compliant documentation built to withstand scrutiny.
What do you deliver?
A complete R&D credit study: project narratives, credit calculations, and supporting workpapers — everything your CPA needs to file.
Why so much cheaper than everyone else?
We built software to automate what traditional firms do manually. Lower overhead, lower fees.
What if my credit is really small?
We’ll tell you on the free call. If it doesn’t make sense, we’ll say so. We’re founders too.
Can I claim previous years?
Yes. You can amend returns going back 3 years — right now that reaches TY2022. Every year you wait, a year falls off.
Why should I do this now?
Your first year’s rate is ~6%. Once you have a base year, future rates jump to 14%. The sooner you start, the sooner you unlock the higher rate.
What if I can’t use the full credit?
Credits carry forward for 20 years. Use what you can now, the rest rolls forward. They don’t expire.
Let's find out what you qualify for.
Free 15-minute call. We'll estimate your credit and tell you if it's worth it.
You can claim the last 3 years. Every year you wait, a year disappears.
Prefer email? hello@indie-credit.com
Credit estimates are illustrative. Your actual credit depends on qualifying activities and expenses.