Which Form 6765 and instructions to use in 2026
The Form 6765 on IRS.gov is the December 2024 revision. Its instructions were revised in December 2025 and say they are for use with the January 2025 revision of the form, the same four-page form with Sections A through G. Those instructions govern returns filed in 2026, and they already spell out the Section G rules for tax years beginning after 2025.
The form does three jobs. It computes the IRC §41 credit under the Regular method or the alternative simplified credit. It records whether you elect the §280C reduced credit. And it carries the payroll tax election for qualified small businesses. The instructions also reflect §174A: if you do not elect the reduced credit, you reduce your §174A domestic research deduction or capital account by the credit.
Partnerships and S corporations must file the form to claim the credit. Partners and shareholders whose only research credit comes through a K-1 generally report it directly on Form 3800.
Items A and B: the §280C election and controlled groups
Two questions above Section A. Both have consequences that cannot be fixed on an amended return.
Item A: the reduced credit under §280C
Check Yes to elect the reduced credit, No to decline, on the original timely filed return including extensions. The election cannot be made or changed on an amended return and is irrevocable for the year. You can elect even when no credit is claimed on the original return, which preserves the reduced-credit posture for a later claim. Yes means line 13 uses 15.8% and line 26 multiplies by 79%. No means you reduce your §174A deduction or capital account by the credit and attach a statement showing where.
Item B: controlled group or common control
A Yes requires an attachment listing, for every member, the EIN, name, common parent or designated member, consolidated status, business activity code, QREs by category, share of the credit (the reduced amount if Item A is Yes), and the group totals. It also asks how many members the group has this year and last year. All members must conform to the designated member’s method and election, as set out in §41(f) and Treas. Reg. §1.41-6.
Section A: the Regular credit
Skip it if you elect the ASC, or elected it earlier and are not revoking. Revoking means completing Section A on a timely original return.
| Line | What goes there | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amounts paid to energy research consortia for energy research | Anything here cannot appear elsewhere on the return. |
| 2-4 | Basic research payments to qualified organizations, less the qualified organization base period amount | Corporations only; not S corporations, personal holding companies or service organizations. |
| 5 | Total QREs, carried from Section F, line 48 | A controlled group member filing separately enters only its own QREs. |
| 6 | Fixed-base percentage, not more than 16% | Group members use the group percentage. Start-up rules apply for newer companies. |
| 7 | Average annual gross receipts for the 4 prior tax years | Reduce by returns and allowances; annualize short years. |
| 8-11 | Base amount (line 7 x line 6), the excess over it, and the 50% floor | Line 11 takes the smaller of the excess or 50% of QREs. |
| 12-13 | Sum of lines 1, 4 and 11, times 20%, or 15.8% if Item A is Yes | No election means attaching a statement of the reduced deductions. |
Lines 8 through 11 are where the §41(c)(2) floor bites: the base can never be less than half of current QREs, so line 11 can never exceed half of line 5. The mechanics, and when this method beats the ASC, are in calculation methods.
Section B: the alternative simplified credit
You elect the ASC simply by completing Section B on a timely original return. The election then continues for later years.
| Line | What goes there | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| 14-19 | Energy consortium amounts and excess basic research payments, times 20% | Same definitions as lines 1-4. |
| 20 | Total QREs, carried from Section F, line 48 | Member-only QREs for group members filing separately. |
| 21 | Total QREs for the prior 3 tax years | A total, not an average. Group members enter the group’s prior QREs. |
| 22-23 | Line 21 divided by 6 (half the 3-year average), and the excess over it | Skip both if any one prior year had no QREs. |
| 24 | Line 23 times 14%, or line 20 times 6% if you skipped lines 22-23 | The 6% rate applies with a single zero year, not only three. |
| 25-26 | Lines 19 plus 24, times 79% if Item A is Yes | Same attachment rule as line 13 if you do not elect. |
An ASC election on an amended return is possible only if you had not already claimed the credit for that year on an original or amended return, and no extension of time to elect is granted. Prior-year QREs on line 21 must be computed on the same basis as the current year, not copied from the financial statements.
Section C: the current-year credit (lines 27-32)
- Line 27 removes any Form 8932 differential wage credit on the same wages, so they are not credited twice.
- Line 28 is your own credit after that adjustment. It is also the ceiling for any payroll election.
- Line 29 adds research credits received on Schedules K-1 from partnerships, S corporations, estates and trusts.
- Line 30 is reported on Schedule K by partnerships and S corporations (less line 36 if they elect the payroll credit), on Form 3800, Part III, line 4i by eligible small businesses, and on line 1c by everyone else. Lines 31 and 32 allocate an estate’s or trust’s credit to beneficiaries.
Section D: the payroll tax election (lines 33-36)
- Line 33a is the election box for a qualified small business. 33b flags payroll tax reported under a different EIN, such as a PEO’s.
- Line 34 is the portion of line 28 elected, never more than $500,000.
- Line 35 is the current-year general business credit carryforward from the worksheet. Partnerships and S corporations skip it; everyone else completes Form 3800 first.
- Line 36 is the smaller of lines 28 and 34 for partnerships and S corporations, or the smallest of lines 28, 34 and 35 for others. It goes to Form 8974, Part 1, column (e).
Section E: other information (lines 37-41)
Required whenever you report QREs on line 48. Line 37 is the number of business components behind all your QREs. Line 38 is officers’ wages included in line 42. Line 39 asks whether you acquired or disposed of a major portion of a trade or business. Line 40 asks whether you added new categories of expenses, which must then be reflected in the base years too.
Line 41 applies only to taxpayers following the ASC 730 Directive: assets of $10 million or more, U.S. GAAP certified audited financial statements showing research and development expense, and the same statements used for Schedule M-3. Those taxpayers enter the Appendix C, line 19 amount and make a single “ASC 730 Directive” entry in Section G.
Section F: the QRE summary
If you complete Section G, Section F simply carries its column totals. If you do not, you enter the category totals directly.
| Line | What goes there | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| A | Are you required to complete Section G? | Decide this first; it changes where lines 42-45 come from. |
| 42 | Total qualified wages (Section G column 53, if completed) | Exclude wages used for the work opportunity credit. |
| 43 | Total supplies (column 54) | Supplies used in the conduct of qualified research only. |
| 44 | Rental or lease cost of computers (column 55) | Off your premises, not operated or primarily used by you. |
| 45 | Applicable contract research (column 56) | 65% generally; 75% consortia; 100% qualifying energy research. |
| 46-47 | Basic research payments up to the base period amount, then lines 45 plus 46 | The same 65%, 75% and 100% percentages apply. |
| 48 | Lines 42, 43, 44 and 47 added together | Carries to line 5 (Regular) or line 20 (ASC). |
Group members filing separate returns report only their own amounts in Section F. For what belongs in each category, see the QRE guide.
Section G: business component information, and who must complete it
Optional for all filers for tax years beginning before 2026. Required for tax years beginning after 2025, unless one of two exemptions applies.
You are exempt from Section G if either applies
- You are a qualified small business under §41(h)(3) that “checked the box to claim a reduced payroll tax credit” (the instructions’ wording; in practice, the Section D election on line 33a); or
- All three are true: your total QREs on line 48, determined at the controlled group level, are $1.5 million or less; your average annual gross receipts for the prior three tax years are $50 million or less under §448(c)(3); and you are reporting the credit on an original return.
The 80%/Top 50 rule. If Section G applies, report business components covering at least 80% of total QREs, but no more than 50 components, in descending order of QREs. Determine them at the controlled group level, unless you are a member filing separately, in which case use your own QREs. Everything else goes on one “Aggregate Business Components” row with amounts in columns 50-56 only.
Special entries. An ASC 730 Directive filer makes one entry that does not count toward the 50. A taxpayer using statistical sampling under Rev. Proc. 2011-42 still reports the 80%/Top 50, adds “sample” to sampled component names, and attaches the sampling plan. Paper filers with more than 15 components attach extra sheets.
Section G columns
| Column | What it asks |
|---|---|
| 49(a) | EIN of the group member conducting the research |
| 49(b) | That member’s principal business activity code |
| 49(c) | Business component name or unique identifier, consistent with your books and records |
| 49(d) | Component type: Product, Process, or All Others |
| 49(e) | Software type, if software: internal use, dual function, non-internal use, or excepted |
| 49(f) | Information sought to be discovered (currently required only on amended-return claims) |
| 50-53 | Wages for direct research, direct supervision and direct support, and their total |
| 54-56 | Supplies, computer rental, and applicable contract research for the component |
Section G reports what a good study already records: each business component, the people working on it in research, supervision and support roles, and what it cost. Our Section G explainer covers the history, and the documentation guide covers building the record.
Refund claims: what an amended Form 6765 must include
An amended return or administrative adjustment request that claims a research credit not on the original return, or increases it, must include specific information to be a valid claim. Under the IRS research credit claims FAQ (updated March 2026), you must:
- identify all the business components the claim relates to for that year;
- identify all research activities performed for each business component; and
- provide total qualified wages, supplies and contract research for the year, which Form 6765 can do.
Since June 18, 2024 the IRS has waived two older items at filing: the names of the people who performed each activity and the information each sought to discover. It may still ask for both if the claim is examined. A deficient claim gets a letter allowing 45 days to perfect it, under a transition period the IRS has extended through January 10, 2027.
Ten common Form 6765 errors
Each one is avoidable with the instructions open and the study workpapers beside them.
Section A without a real fixed-base percentage
Line 6 is a historical ratio. A percentage reconstructed from recent years is not the §41(c)(3) number, and the credit built on it is exposed.
Item A answered by habit
The §280C election is made or declined on the original, timely return and cannot be changed later. Decide it deliberately.
Group totals on member lines
Members filing separately enter their own QREs on lines 5, 20 and 42-48, and the group figures only where the instructions say so.
No Item B attachment
Controlled group members must attach the group statement with each member’s EIN, QRE categories and share of the credit.
Line 37 counts only Section G rows
Line 37 is every business component behind line 48, not just the ones reported individually.
Contract research at 100%
Line 45 and column 56 take 65% of most contract research. 75% and 100% apply only to consortia and qualifying energy research.
The 6% trap on line 24
One prior year with no QREs moves the ASC to 6% of current QREs. Entering an average on line 21 hides the problem.
Section G names that match nothing
Column 49(c) should use the identifiers in your project records, so an examiner can trace each row to evidence.
Small-filer exemption on an amended return
The $1.5 million QRE and $50 million receipts exemption applies only when the credit is reported on an original return.
New expense categories not carried back
A “Yes” on line 40 means those categories must also be reflected in the base years used for the computation.
Every Ricerca study delivers a Form 6765 package, Sections A through G, with the workpapers behind each line, for your CPA or tax preparer to review, sign and file. See a synthetic example in the sample study or the worked SaaS example.
Form 6765 questions we get most
Is Section G required on a 2025 return?
Who is exempt from Section G for 2026?
What is the current revision of Form 6765?
Can we elect the reduced §280C credit on an amended return?
Do partnerships and S corporations file Form 6765?
Where does line 36 go?
More in the R&D credit FAQ and the roundup of R&D credit changes for 2026.
Primary sources
The form, its instructions and the IRS guidance this page summarizes, as retrieved September 28, 2026.
- IRS - About Form 6765, Credit for Increasing Research Activities
- IRS - Instructions for Form 6765 (Rev. December 2025)
- IRS - Form 6765 (Rev. December 2024), PDF
- IRS - Research credit claims (Section 41) on amended returns FAQ
- 26 U.S.C. §41 (Cornell LII)
- Treas. Reg. §1.280C-4 - Reduced credit election (Cornell LII)
Form revisions, instructions and IRS procedures change between filing seasons. Confirm the version and requirements for your tax year with a qualified professional before filing.