The Utah entry, field by field
This is the registry entry our engine applies for tax year 2026, rendered field by field. Where a field is blank in the registry, the row says so rather than filling the gap.
Program flags on this entry
- Wages in state
- Yes
- Contract research in state
- Yes
- Credit for TY2026
- Current credit Yes. Our rules registry carries a current Utah research credit for tax year 2026.
- Structure
- Non-incremental for the component computed at 7.5%; the registry carries a separate incremental component at 5%
- Credit rate
- 7.5% of qualified research expenses
- Additional statutory components
- 5% each, cumulative Utah Code Ann. §59-7-612(1)(a) lets a qualifying taxpayer claim the enumerated credits together: 5% of Utah qualified research expenses above the Subsection (4) base and 5% of §41(e) basic-research payments above that base, each in addition to the 7.5% component, not instead of it. Each component carries its own base and its own carryforward runway. The 7.5% figure is a floor, not the full entitlement.
- Base method
- The base amount is the federal §41(c) computation with Utah qualified research expenses and Utah gross receipts substituted; the state statute adopts that formula and modifies it. It applies to the 5% incremental component or components, not to the 7.5% component above. The registry carries that formula and the preparer notes that go with it; both are set out below. Our engine computes those components only where Utah-source gross receipts and a fixed-base percentage are on record.
- Carryforward
- Split: no carryforward for the component computed at 7.5%, 14 years for the component computed at 5%.
- Carryback
- None recorded
- Refundable?
- Not refundable An affirmative determination in the registry, carried against the statute cited below.
- State form
- Credit code 12 (TC-40A Part 4 / TC-20 Sch. A - no separate form)
- Statute
- Utah Code Ann. §59-7-612 / §59-10-1012
How the Utah credit is computed
The Utah credit has more than one statutory component. The component our engine computes is non-incremental: 7.5% applied to Utah qualified research expenses directly, with no base amount subtracted. The registry also carries a 5% incremental component or components that are cumulative with it, not alternatives to it.
The base amount is the federal §41(c) computation with Utah qualified research expenses and Utah gross receipts substituted; the state statute adopts that formula and modifies it. It applies to the 5% incremental component or components, not to the 7.5% component above. The registry carries that formula and the preparer notes that go with it; both are set out below. Our engine computes those components only where Utah-source gross receipts and a fixed-base percentage are on record.
Carryforward is split between the components of the credit: no carryforward for the component computed at 7.5%, 14 years for the component computed at 5%. Refundability: not refundable.
Ricerca computes the Utah figure from the same substantiated expense base as the federal §41 credit, using the registry entry for the tax year claimed and applying the state's own qualification rules to it. Where the registry is silent on a point, the study says so and the position is resolved with the return preparer instead of being assumed.
Claiming it alongside the federal credit
The federal §41 credit comes first. It is computed from the qualified research expenses the study substantiates - wages for qualified services, supplies consumed in research, computer and cloud rental, and the allowable share of contract research - and it lands on Form 6765 with the return.
The Utah credit is then computed from that same substantiated base, with the state's own rules applied on top: its rate, its base amount, its caps, and its own view of what counts. Where the work was physically performed matters: state credits generally reach the research done in the state, so the same employee can sit inside one state's base and outside another's.
That is why the allocation work is done once, at the expense level, with the state attribution recorded as it is built rather than reverse-engineered at filing time.
One base, two computations
- 1 Qualify the activities under the four-part test and total the year's QREs.
- 2 Compute the federal §41 credit and file it on Form 6765.
- 3 Apply the Utah entry above to the Utah share of that base, and file it on Credit code 12 (TC-40A Part 4 / TC-20 Sch. A - no separate form).
What the registry tells the preparer
These notes travel with the Utah entry inside the platform and are reproduced here verbatim, including the registry's own emphasis. They are written for the person signing the return, which is exactly why they belong on a page about the credit.
- The computed figure is the 7.5% non-incremental component (§59-7-612(1)(a)(iii) / §59-10-1012(1)(a)(iii)) on current-year Utah QRE. It has NO carryforward and no carryback - unused credit is lost with the year - and, for corporations, nonrefundable credits cannot offset the Utah minimum tax.
- THE 7.5% FIGURE IS A FLOOR, NOT THE FULL ENTITLEMENT. Two additional 5% INCREMENTAL components are CUMULATIVE with the 7.5% component. The authority is §59-7-612(1)(a) itself: it says a qualifying taxpayer 'may claim the FOLLOWING NONREFUNDABLE TAX CREDITS' - plural - and enumerates (i), (ii) and (iii) joined by 'and', not by 'or'. (Subsection (1)(b) is a TIMING rule about which taxable year each is claimed in, and is not the source of the cumulation; the Utah TC-20 / TC-40 instructions under credit code 12 corroborate by listing all three as parts of one credit.) The two components are: 5% of Utah QRE exceeding the Subsection (4) base amount, and 5% of IRC §41(e) basic-research payments exceeding that base - each with a 14-year carryforward (§59-7-612(5)(a)). Both are computed by this engine ONLY where Utah-source gross receipts and a fixed-base percentage are on record, because Subsection (4)(a) builds the base from §41(c)/(h) mechanics with gross receipts limited to UTAH-source receipts. Absent those two inputs the engine states the §41(c)(2) CEILING on each component and computes no dollar for it - a ceiling is not a claim.
- An IRREVOCABLE elective start-up-company treatment under IRC §41(c)(3)(B) (3% fixed-base percentage) is available to ANY taxpayer for the Utah base regardless of federal eligibility - §59-7-612(4)(a)(iii) says so in terms - the election is available regardless of whether the taxpayer meets the federal start-up eligibility conditions of §41(c)(3)(B) - and forbids revoking it. It is a preparer election and is not assumed here; making it, with Utah-source gross receipts, is what makes the two 5% components computable.
- Only research conducted IN UTAH counts; a unitary group is one taxpayer (§59-7-612(2)). The Utah credit does not terminate if federal §41 terminates (§59-7-612(4)(e)).
- ASC CAUTION: both statutes exclude "the alternative incremental credit provided for in Section 41(c)(4)" - a cross-reference written when §41(c)(4) WAS the alternative incremental credit. The PATH Act of 2015 repealed the AIRC, and the Tax Technical Corrections Act of 2018 (Pub. L. 115-141, div. U, §101(c)) then redesignated the Alternative Simplified Credit from §41(c)(5) INTO §41(c)(4). Under Utah's rolling IRC conformity a literal reading of the exclusion therefore now catches the ASC, but that is an unresolved reading and NOT a settled rule: the Tax Commission has published no guidance either way. Do not assume an ASC path for Utah - or assume its unavailability - without a written position.
Sources
The citations below are carried verbatim on the Utah registry entry. They are what the study cites, and what a reviewer can check.
- Statute
- Utah Code Ann. §59-7-612 / §59-10-1012
- Form
- Credit code 12 (TC-40A Part 4 / TC-20 Sch. A - no separate form)
Registry entry version 2024.2, exported from services/study-api/app/engines/rules_engine.py (STATE_RULES_2024 + STATE_RULES_REGIME_OVERRIDES via RulesEngine.get_state_rules) on September 10, 2026. The registry is versioned per state and per tax year: the entry above governs TY2026, and a study for an earlier year is computed under that year's entry instead.