Industry Brief  ·  Cabinetry and Millwork

Your shop drawings are research.

The federal R&D tax credit pays for the design and fabrication work your shop already does. Most cabinet and millwork shops never claim it.

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It costs nothing to find out. If there isn't enough credit to be worth claiming, you don't pay a thing.

New to youis enough. A detail or joinery method your shop hasn't built before can count when you had to test your way to it.
4 years of creditin one study: this year, plus past years still open to amend, usually three.
Exam supportcomes with every study. If the IRS asks, we answer.

What counts in your shop

Work you already bill for
  • Shop drawingsTurning an architect's intent into details you can actually build.
  • Joinery and hardwareWorking out how a big door, hidden hinge, or moving panel will hold up over time.
  • Material and finish testingTrying substrates, veneers, adhesives, or finish schedules for a demanding install.
  • Curves and complex geometryBuilding radius casework, compound miters, or sculpted forms.
  • CNC programming and nestingWriting toolpaths and fixtures that cut a new part cleanly every time.
  • Mockups and first articlesBuilding a sample, finding what fails, and revising the detail.
  • Movement and moistureDesigning assemblies that stay flat and tight through the seasons.
  • Installation detailsWorking out cleats, blocking, and tolerances for a difficult site.

The four questions, for millwork shops

§41's four-part test
  1. Did you build a design or method new to your shop?It doesn't have to be new to the trade.
  2. Did it take real know-how?Wood movement, adhesives, and geometry are science, even at the bench.
  3. Were you unsure at the start?Will the veneer hold on that radius?
  4. Did you try options to find out?Samples, mockups, and revised shop drawings are exactly that.

Unsure about any of these? That's what the call is for. The four-part test in plain English

Millwork shops ask

We build what the architect draws. Is that research?

The drawings usually stop short of how the piece gets built. When turning design intent into a working detail raises a question your shop has to test, that work can count.

Does a custom kitchen qualify?

It can, when the job raised a technical question your shop had to solve. A standard box out of a catalog doesn't.

Does a mockup we threw away count?

Usually. A sample that failed is strong evidence you experimented. The lumber, sheet goods, hardware, and finish in it can count as supplies.

Most of our work is fixed price. Does that matter?

It can. The credit stays with you when you only get paid if it works and you keep the right to reuse what you learned. The study reads the contract to check. The study checks the contract terms.

Filing, how far back, exams, and costs: common questions.

For your CPA: where the credit goes on Form 1120, 1120-S, 1065, or 1040.

Other industry briefs

Where else it lands
Architecture

Your drawings are research.

Design problems firms solve by testing options can qualify, when the contract leaves the risk and rights with the firm.

Read the brief Engineering Firms

Your calculations are research.

Analysis, alternatives, and revised designs can be qualified engineering work.

Read the brief Sawmills and Plywood

Tuning the line is research.

New layups, dryer and press settings, and proving out a new line can be qualified process work.

Read the brief

Give us thirty minutes.

Bring whoever draws your shop drawings. You'll leave knowing whether your jobs qualify.

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