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R&D tax credit calculator

90% of venture-⁠backed startups qualify. The average claim is $51,040. No equity, no profit required.

Estimated 2026 credit

$96,000

19% of the $500,000 yearly payroll-tax cap

$160,000

Share of their time building new product

$
  • Cursor
  • Cognition
  • Ramp
  • modal
  • Chai discovery
  • Rox
  • Braintrust
  • Pika
  • AfterQuery
  • Coder

1,800+ venture-⁠backed companies run their taxes, books and sales tax with Rivet.

Why this is real

A federal credit since 1981. Startups have taken it against payroll tax since 2016.

It's section 41 of the tax code, claimed on Form 6765 with your return. The 2015 PATH Act let qualified small businesses apply it to payroll tax, and the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act doubled that cap to $500,000. It isn't a loophole. It's the part of the code written for companies like yours.

A year against payroll tax, for startups under $5M in revenue
$500K
Of engineering payroll back, for most venture-⁠backed startups
10%
After you file, the offset starts on your payroll returns
1 quarter

What counts

Building new product counts. Keeping the lights on doesn't.

Qualifies

  • Engineers' wages for building and testing new product
  • 65% of what you pay US contractors for that work
  • Cloud compute used to develop and test

Doesn't

  • Work done outside the US
  • Maintenance and bug fixes after launch
  • Sales, support and market research

How it works

  1. We pull your payroll and identify qualified engineering time.

  2. We run the study and file the credit with your 2026 return.

  3. The credit offsets payroll tax each quarter.

    Most startups see it within one quarter of filing.
Ramp
“It’s been awesome seeing Rivet serve many of the fastest growing companies in the world.”
Co-⁠Founder, CEO at RampEric Glyman

Questions

We're not profitable. Does this still work?
Yes. Startups under $5M in revenue can apply up to $500K a year against payroll tax instead of income tax.
Our accountant never mentioned this.
Most don't. It's a separate study, not a line on the return. We'll check your last return for free.
What does Rivet charge?
One fixed annual price that covers your taxes, books and the credit. No percentage of the credit, no hourly fees, no per-⁠state filing fees. And you get your tax team on Slack.

Your number is waiting.

Estimated 2026 credit: $96,000

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