Meat and seafood processors must rely on substantial research and development (R&D) to successfully process livestock and aquaculture. Processing plants provide the space, technology, and equipment for meatpacking. If your plant improves the efficiency of operations, implements novel food handling techniques, or designs and builds new equipment, it may be eligible to claim the R&D Tax Credit. Businesses can take advantage of federal and state tax incentives to strengthen their workforce and reinvest in continued innovation.

Employee wages, raw materials and supplies, cloud computing expenses, and third-party contractor costs associated with research and development activities are considered qualified research expenses (QREs). Companies can receive refunds of up to 22% of total QREs through federal and state tax credits, depending on the state in which your business operates. 

Examples of qualifying activities:  

• Developing a novel process for deboning and packaging fish
• Improving an existing meat tracking process to monitor disease outbreaks
• Designing equipment to increase efficiency or food safety on the processing floor
• Improving equipment sanitation processes to remove bacteria from surfaces
• Experimenting with new packaging solutions to improve shelf life and meat quality
• Researching and implementing environmental protection technologies for native wildlife      

Do you have these job titles on your payroll, or do you hire third-party contractors to do these jobs? 

• C-Suite
• Electrical Engineers
• Food Safety Managers
• Meat / Seafood Processors
• Mechanical Engineers
• Packaging Technicians
• Process Engineers
• Quality Assurance (QA) Engineers

Use our R&D Tax Calculator to estimate your potential benefit, and partner with Strike to claim your tax benefits with no up-front costs. Contact one of our experts today