The aerospace and aviation industries are currently driving America’s economic growth by providing 15% of the US Gross Domestic Product and offering approximately 11 million domestic jobs. Consequently, we depend on this highly technical workforce to keep expanding America’s innovation. Appropriately, aviation and aerospace companies are highly rewarded by the federal and state government when they apply for the Research and Development Tax Credit. Companies within these two industries are perfect candidates for the tax incentive since they are constantly designing, developing and improving their products and processes.
Aerospace engineers, technologists, designers and machinists spend a considerable amount of their time developing and improving designs that will allow their companies and their country to remain competitive in today’s marketplace. The activities conducted by the highly skilled professionals comprise of applied research such as air transportation, military operation and space-based communications. The constant technological evolution provides the opportunity for companies in these industries to take advantage of the R&D Tax Credit.
Below are some of the most common qualified R&D activities in the aerospace and aviation industry:
- Designing new aircraft and spacecraft
- Conducting design validation testing to satisfy regulatory requirements
- Generating prototypes and first articles for testing and validation
- Measures to improve product quality
- Developing new or improved manufacturing processes and technologies