What counts in your plant
Work you already do on new programs- Mold design and buildDesigning gates, runners, cooling, and ejection for a new part.
- Mold flow analysisSimulating fill, pack, and warp before you cut steel.
- Sampling and process windowsDialing in a process through trial shots.
- Material selectionTrying resins, fillers, and colorants until the part meets spec.
- Design for moldingReworking a customer's geometry so it will actually mold.
- Tooling revisionsSteel-safe changes, texture trials, and revised cooling after sampling.
- Secondary operationsDeveloping overmolding, insert molding, or assembly for a new program.
- Cycle time and scrapTesting a new gate, cooling, or process design on a running tool when nobody knew if it would work.
The four questions, for molders
§41's four-part test- Did you develop a mold or process new to your company?It doesn't have to be new to the industry.
- Did it take real know-how?Your work rests on polymer science and mechanical engineering.
- Were you unsure at the start?Will it fill? Will it hold tolerance at cycle?
- Did you try options to find out?Mold trials, process windows, and tooling changes are exactly that.
Unsure about any of these? That's what the call is for. The four-part test in plain English
Molders ask
The customer owns the mold. Do we still qualify?
Often. Work counts when payment depends on it working and your company keeps the right to use what it learns. The contract decides, and the study reads it.
Do sampling shots and scrap count?
Yes. Resin used up dialing in a process shows you experimented, and it can count as a supply. Your sampling reports are the evidence.
Does the credit cover a new press?
No, equipment gets depreciated. The time and material spent proving out a program on it can count.
We're a small custom molder. Are we too small?
No. The credit has no minimum size. A small molder developing new programs qualifies on the same terms as a large one.
Filing, how far back, exams, and costs: common questions.
For your CPA: where the credit goes on Form 1120, 1120-S, 1065, or 1040.
Give us thirty minutes.
Bring whoever runs sampling on your new tools. You'll leave knowing whether your programs qualify.
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