Simply put, a tax deduction lowers your taxable income for the year, while a tax credit gives you a dollar-for-dollar reduction of the actual taxes you owe. Both can save you some serious cash, but a tax credit is more meaningful.
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An easy way to remember the difference is to think about a tax deduction like a promo code and a tax credit like a gift card to your favorite store. Both will reduce how much you owe, but generally a gift card will eliminate your bill completely.

Early and often! Certain tax credits like Research & Development Tax Credits are available to companies annually, for the life of their business!

However, it’s imperative that you take a look before you file your tax return every year, because if you file without them you could miss out on them forever.

Other programs like the Employee Retention credit, do have a shelf-life, and are here today gone tomorrow, so don’t be the company missing out on tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Financially savvy businesses are leveraging tax credits like the R&D tax credit and Employee Retention Credit to save a ton of money even though they are not yet profitable.

There are special provisions in the tax code that allow for Startup companies to benefit from these programs even if they are operating in losses or are pre-revenue.

For the R&D Tax Credit, employers can use their credits as a Payroll Tax Offset, effectively eliminating 6.2% of their annual operating expenses. That's $62,000 for an average Seed-stage startup!

Most accounting firms are not able to be specialists in every facet of the tax code nor should we expect them to know and keep up with the legislative updates and particulars for every single client and industry.

It would be like expecting your General Practitioner to also be versed in Cardiology and Orthopedics. They may very well know the signs that you need help in these areas, but aren’t equipped to tackle them.

That’s why TaxTaker partners with accounting firms and fractional CFO shops all across the country, so you don’t have to change a thing. We come in to tackle these tax “specialities” and you continue to work with your other trusted providers. We're all on the same team!

Our competitors range from legacy accounting firms that have a specialist in-house to VC-backed software companies.  All are designed to qualify your company for applicable credits and find you the most money available.  

Legacy providers are generally slower, more expensive, and focused on their biggest clients, meaning your small business often gets overlooked. On the other side, software providers can often make flimsy claims or mis-calculate findings.  Too little credit or credit that is not yours are equally not wise!
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TaxTaker has differentiated ourselves with a “high tech, high touch” approach to win for our clients.  This means that our experts have invested in building technology and systems that make our processes efficient, but place a heavy emphasis on customer experience.  This enables us to maximize our client results, while also being cognizant of our client’s other priorities and bandwidth.