IR-2025-99, Oct. 1, 2025

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that it is continuing to seek feedback regarding the draft Instructions for Form 6765 and is extending the dates for certain reporting requirements related to the Credit for Increasing Research Activities, also known as the research credit.

After publishing drafts of the Form 6765 and related instructions last year, the IRS received comments in which external stakeholders requested additional time to share feedback. After considering the feedback the agency has decided to extend the comment period for the draft instructions through March 31, 2026, to alleviate taxpayer burden and in the interest of fair and effective tax administration.

Interested parties may submit feedback about the Form 6765 Instructions to lbi.rt.team@irs.gov, using the subject line: “Instructions for Form 6765.” IRS expects to release revised Form 6765 instructions for tax year 2025 (processing year 2026) in January 2026.

While stakeholder engagement continues, Section G of Form 6765 will be optional for all filers for tax year 2025 (processing year 2026).

For tax year 2026 (processing year 2027) and beyond, Section G will be mandatory for all filers with optional reporting for:

• Qualified small business (QSB) taxpayers, defined in section 41(h)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code who check the box to claim a reduced payroll tax credit; or
• Taxpayers with total qualified research expenses (QREs) equal to or less than $1.5 million, determined at the control group level and equal to or less than $50 million of gross receipts, as determined under section 448(c)(3) (without regard to subparagraph (A) thereof), claiming a research credit on an original filed return.

The IRS also is extending the research credit claim transition period, which gives taxpayers 45 days to perfect a research credit claim for refund prior to IRS’s final determination on the claim, through Jan. 10, 2027.

To submit a claim for refund for the research credit postmarked after June 18, 2024, that is sufficient for the IRS to consider taxpayers must:

• Identify all the business components to which the Section 41 research credit claim relates for that year,
• Identify all research activities performed for each business component, and
• Provide the total qualified employee wage expenses, total qualified supply expenses, and total qualified contract research expenses for the claim year. Taxpayers may use Form 6765, Credit for Increasing Research Activities for this purpose.

The IRS previously announced the release of draft Form 6765, Credit for Increasing Research Activities PDF in a news release on June 12, 2024. The IRS released draft Instructions for Form 6765, Credit for Increasing Research Activities PDF and solicited feedback; the new instructions were announced in a news release on Dec. 20, 2024.

Visit IRS.gov to learn more about the Research Credit.