Free Money From the IRS? How to Get $5K-$500K+ Back (R&D Tax Credits Explained)

All right. This is literally a free money episode. And it's one of the most exciting ways to get money back from the government I've ever run into. It's called an R and D tax credit. Most people either don't know what it is, don't know how to make it work. Their accountants don't know how to do it either. And it is a way to be able to develop new products or services and be able to get your money back as a deduction. Normally, you know how you can do a tax deduction, but also there is a way to create an additional deduction. So it's kind of like a 2 for 1 deal. I know it sounds completely crazy, but this is a, trust me, it actually works. And the guy who I'm about to introduce you to, his name is Justin Maxwell. He's a friend of mine. I met him while I was speaking on the stage. He came up to me, he told me what this was, and I'm like, yeah, it sounds like bs. And he gave me an offer I couldn't refuse, which basically he did all the work, all the research, told me exactly what I'd get back before I had to pay him anything. It is one of the smartest strategies. And like I said, unless you're doing it right and you got a team who really knows how to do this, they probably aren't. Justin, how you doing, man?

Doing well. Mike, I'm really excited to bring this to your audience because I think it's going to be a big win for them.

It's such a freaking no brainer. First of all, what's the R and D tax credit and why do people not know about this? I'll just ask you a whole bunch of questions. So let's begin with the double dip.

Yeah. So let's take it back to why they don't know about it, because this will answer it. So back in 1980, Japan automakers surpassed American automakers in market share of the auto industry. Our government didn't like that. And so a way to incentivize American automakers to start hiring American engineers, to start innovating, making better things, and to start to regain control of the auto market. They introduced the R and D credit as a means to incentivize them to do it. So it was finally passed in 1981. And from 1981 all the way to 2015, essentially the R and D credit was for big businesses only. And that's the primary reason why most business owners don't know about it is because Their accountants aren't big business owner accountants. So they think of it as only big businesses can qualify, only people that are doing test tubes and research and white coats and that type of person. So they have a completely misunderstanding because for the longest time it wasn't available for small business owners. And I realize we're a decade from there, but still, it's still very well unknown amongst the general accountant person. If you ask a general accountant, do I qualify for the R and D credit, they're going to ask, are you an engineering firm? Are you doing strategic test tube labs? And if you don't say yes to those things, they're going to tell you no. But it's severely different. But it started because it was only for big businesses. That's the primary reason why people don't know it exists.

Okay, so let's get into the practical tactical side. And there's also a big catch and something big that recently happened this past year. And there's also a big deadline. So this is a really pay attention. So first of all, I'm always creating and inventing and making things up. And what the R and D tax credit enabled me to do when I worked with Justin is not only deduct my expenses and my human capital, but also prorate some of my own time legitimately and ethically. Okay, so in addition to the normal business deductions, the R and D tax credit is in. In addition to. So you can, can you tell me how the double dip and the separation works?

Yes. So when we're going about doing things that are new or innovative or creating new protocols, new systems, new technologies, bringing new technologies in, testing AI, doing those types of behaviors, you already get to deduct anything you, anything you spend money on in your business. You deduct it. Like it doesn't, you don't, it doesn't show up on your tax return.

So basically that way your taxable income is lower with the deduction, correct?

Yes, 100%. So there's lots of different strategies to make deductions, but it's what the R and D credit is doing is it's saying, okay, well how much of this money you're spending on your business to grow it, to pay people, to buy technology, to spend time innovating things, of those dollars, the R and D credit will classify them as qualified research activities. And those dollars then will spit off an additional tax saving benefit for you in the form of a credit. And a credit is a dollar for dollar write off of a taxable bill. So it gives you the ability to. I get to spend money on developing my business, making it better, helping my customers retire, reaching the market faster. And when I'm doing those behaviors, I also get this credit that it spits off and it helps me save an additional amount of money in taxes. Now, the percentages, the reason this is complicated, a lot of accountants don't do it. That's the other reason is that is a complicated of how do I classify which ones are actually R and D behaviors and then how do I calculate how much it spits off in credits? But that's the double dip is I get to deduct it already like I normally do. And. And in addition to that, I get a credit on top of it. So I got to save taxes in two ways.

That's awesome. So the next thing that is crazy, and I don't know what year this happened, but when I met you, what the current tax rules or laws were is whatever my tax credit was, I had to depreciate that over five years. Now here's the great thing. I got a big check back from my first year right away direct deposited. But then we were able to go backwards in time. How many years total?

You can go backwards three years.

Okay, so three years. So you're effectively doing, I don't know if this is the proper technical term, but an amend or an amendment, and then look back and say, oh, I spent this money and that again, it literally became a direct deposit into my bank account with. With additional tax credits that continued for that entire depreciation period. Now here's what is really exciting. Tell them what the exciting thing is. But there's a deadline.

Yeah. So the exciting thing is, is for 22, 23 and 24, you had to do exactly what Mike's describing, where you had to amortize and stretch the credit over a five year period. So you got the savings, but it took you five years to fully capture them. But with the big beautiful bill that was passed on July 4th of 2025, it allows us to go backwards to 22, 23 and 24, amend the tax returns, and you can take the full credit all at once in each of those given years. So instead of having to wait five years to stay the taxes, you can immediately feel and get the money back in your bank immediately for the taxes you shouldn't have paid in 22, 23 and 24.

It's insane. And like I said when I first met Justin, I'm like, yeah, it sounds like bs.

This is.

I thought it was a total lead Gen scam. That was my first impression because it's just like it's too good to be true. And you go, let me prove it to you. You worked with my team and I can remember I said, well, how long does it take? And you said, well it's going to be about an hour or so. I go, let's do it in 20 minutes. How do I pre prepare so it's even faster. You gave me, you told me what to do, which I did. We met and I found and that was really, I just wanted to protect my time in case it was bs but we got prepared and you worked with my team, your team worked with my team. So I didn't have to do all the work. So my time in was very minimal for all the prep I had to do and asking my team ahead of time because you were so organized. You met and it was within a couple weeks I had a report back exactly what I'd receive. And I'm like, yeah. I asked my accountant, he says yes, it's true and it's real. I talked to, I met with the team and then sure as heck I got the money back. Now there is a no risk fee only when they do the research and figure out what you're going to get. That's part of the business model. It's so insane. It's, it's, it's as close to risk free as I've ever bumped into. And since then I've introduced you to a bunch of people. So what else should I have said that I didn't about the experience and the process and what's like there's no such thing as normal. Everyone's different. We're not making any promises and giving specific financial advice here. It's just two dudes talking about stuff.

Yeah. So I think, I think just as because oftentimes here's what I notice about business owners is they're going to put up a red velvet rope. They're going to put themselves on the outside of it and they're going to say well that's for those guys or that's for that type of person. That's not for me and my business. And it's very 100% true that the R and D credit is not applicable to everyone. Just because it worked for Mike, but Mike does a whole bunch of innovation doesn't mean it's going to work for you. But I don't want you to put the red velvet rope up because you're self disqualifying is what I encourage people to do is at least investigate it, at least check it out, have, have a conversation with someone that knows about the R and D credit, can have a, can go back and forth with you, let them disqualify you before you self disqualify. Because if you actually qualify for this is what you're doing is you're paying the IRS extra money for no reason every single year when you don't have to. And the whole process is meant to be as simple as possible because we know that business owners don't like sitting down for hours at a time and finding and looking through financials. So we make it as simple as we possibly can. We gather information from you, we learn about what innovation you're doing, what technology you've invested in, what projects you've created, and then we just decide on the before we even go deeper than that, we just decide is it worth us spending an hour or two of gathering this, picking all this information up? If yes, then we go dive a little bit deeper and then after that we're going to come back with actual numbers on do you qualify for this? And here's how much you qualify for and do you want this money? Do you want to leave it at the IRS because you can get this money back or do you want to go and do it? So I don't want people to self disqualify. We try to make it as simple as possible. Now if you're a barber, you're probably not going to qualify like you do, probably do great work, you make lots of money, you get high taxes, the R and D credit isn't a strategy for you. But if you're in tech, if you're in science, if you're in medicine, if you're in engineering, software development, if you're in manufacturing, if you're in industries where there's technology and biology and physical science and computer science and engineering, those are the firms and industries that you 100% do not self qualify. Have a conversation and see how much money you could be getting back from the irs.

Yes. So I've got two distinctions and I'm going to ask you a question. So one of the things that I think is important is. Every business in some way, shape or form is always trying to innovate and reinvent itself. And there's ways of thinking that can help you rethink your business. So again, like Justin was saying is if you're on the edge. So in our particular case, I'm constantly fiddling and tweaking with AI, I'm Creating courses, but we're also creating. Like today I met with my entire team and we sat down with AI and thought about every process. We brainstormed on everything we can possibly do or create that would speed up and accelerate onboarding, supporting our clients, creating more value and then finishing projects even faster. And we ended up building and prototyping little tools together. Now, these days, anyone could do that in almost any business. And if it's, you can prove it and gather the data. Like, I've got the videos, I've got the transcripts, I've got the process, I have irrefutable proof that we did something and I also have irrefutable proof that I paid everyone who's there and they were there. Okay. And so one of the things that working with Justin's team allows you to do is just rethink the way you think about your business. Because there's some of this process involves classification. So again, what else would you add to that about the thinking process? And then I'll ask you the direct question, which is, who specifically are some of your best example business types that crush it with this?

Yeah. So when it comes to, like, thinking, I think the thinking is actually the most important thing. And one thing I've noticed with the RD credit is that it actually gives you the permission to start thinking around innovation because you know you're going to get rewarded for it. And that's why the government incentivized the American automakers in the first place, was to make them to stop thinking around scarcity and just staying the way we are. Think about going into the future. How can we be better than our opponents? How can we embrace AI and actually engage this and put it into our systems? That's what I love about it. It gives you the permission to spend money on that, knowing that there's going to be a credit coming back if it doesn't work. And if it. Yes, now you're ahead of it and now you're. Now you're actually better than your competitors, you're making more money, you're more abundant. And so that is the R and D credit is, if you look at. On paper, it's quite boring and menial, but I love the thought process of what it actually unlocks for business owners. So I'm glad that you asked that question.

Good. And you just said something I think is absolutely important is no bank is going to give you your money back if you try something out and it fails, they're going to get paid no matter what. This is an Amazing way to de risk innovating and creating and rethinking who your business is. And the other thing that happened in my particular case, and this is why for someone who's never done this before, it's why it's such a no brainer is in my particular case I had a pretty substantial series of checks because we also went backwards in time and at least got my 20% in addition to the tax credit which depreciate and now we're going backwards and we're. What's the word for it when we re.

Yeah, so we're going to go backwards. Mike is going to amend his taxes amendments. Yes. We can take all the appreciate instead of he'll be able to pull all the money that had to wait five years to be able to pull it all and do it right now. So he's going to get another big check from the three years we've done.

So here's what I'm going to do with that. I'm going to reinvest it and create more marketing and more tools to create more business. And unlike a lot of business right now that are operating in scarcity and fear, I've been hiring more people and using more AI. We're in a growth phase right now and this mindset changed the way I think about innovation, growth and risk. Yes, please.

I double tap on what you just said because I think it's so vital because oftentimes when people start approaching these tax situations where they want to do a strategy to reduce their taxes, they don't have a what's next? So they're just saving taxes to save taxes. And that's basically all you're going to do is you'll save the taxes instead of sending the IRS you it'll evaporate into our world of spending. So I love to have people come with the framework. I save taxes to accelerate my wealth and so I'm accelerating the impact I'm going to have. I'm going to take the money that I saved, I'm going to immediately put it back into another growth engine that allows me to make more money, help more people and be ahead. And when you have that mindset, you can multiply your efforts so much faster because not only do you have your genius happening but you have the capital that's driving it too. And I just, I think it's so extraordinary when you can get pair those two things together. And so I love approaching your tax situation with I'm going to take that money and grow my business more help More people invest in more things. And so I think that's the mindset you need to have. So I'm glad that you said that.

Awesome. And I'm going to. Plus what you just said, which is in my particular case, we don't know about yours until you do a little bit of deep dive. But it's. I'll just tell you right now, go to capabilityamplifier.com tax. That's where you can apply and learn more and actually schedule a consultation with Justin and his team. And so in my particular case, I got a nice lump check and then multiple checks after that. And not only did it shift my mindset, I had real capital. So the thought process I have for you is as long as this works for you and you're in the right business again, that's the qualifying part. But it doesn't take anything to just find out and say yes is if you like, who else is going to give you that risk? And if you haven't done this, you've accumulated three years of potential R and D tax credit refunds that go direct into your bank account. And you'll have to correct me, I think from the time we sent our forms in until I had a direct deposit, I don't even know if it was three weeks. It was between two and three weeks, if I remember correctly. What's the average time or typical time now?

Yeah. So it's going to depend on your accountant and how you file it. So if they're going to. The IRS is trying to get rid of paper filing, so that probably won't be an issue anymore. But.

Yep, we did ours electronically for sure.

Do it electronically. It comes really, really quickly. Like we're talking three weeks to maybe six weeks. And then every once in a while there's hiccups. That takes a few months. And like we're doing it at the irs. So you have to realize is that they're not efficient. They make mistakes frequently and they may have to go back and forth. And the cool thing is we'll help you go back and forth. You don't have to do that. We help you go back and forth with them. But for most people, three to six weeks, if you do it electronically, you'll have money in your, in your account from it. So.

Yeah, yeah. And I will say, and rarely do I ever say what I'm about to say. Do I ever say anything favorable about any government. And the process, I found it to be extremely competent because it happened fast and I did not expect that. Again, this Was a series of two good to be true, stacked together. And what I would challenge you, aside from just going and checking this out and at least scheduling a call with Justin, is if you get a really nice check, one of the things you should do is contact us and let us help you grow your business with that newfound money and capital so we can multiply it even further. That's the purpose of Capability Amplifier. But one. But both of them don't have to be true. The first step is just, you know, talk to Justin. He's got really cool team members. You know the other plus I want to give you Justin. Well, first of all, finish your thought and I want to say one other nice thing about you.

Yeah, I think is what I would like to say is just ping you on that is I can test them, give a testimonial of Mike's processes with helping businesses grow via the AI and helping them learn the tools, use the tools. They're going to put that out there. So just as a testimonial on my end to you that I can. That you can do good work on your end to help people change the way they do business. Like you have to. You have. In my opinion, they have to make a decision, are we going to get left behind or are we going to be a part of the group that's ahead and actually not. And leaving the others behind and your stuff can help them do that. So I think it's a good choice. So I'll let you question.

Well, this is what a great collaboration is all about. And the other thing that I wanted to say, which lends a little more credibility and proof is the spring of this past year, you had asked me to speak at one of your events and it turned out it was in Mexico. Ended up meeting some great people, but I got to meet members of your team and they're just good people who care and they are dyed in the wool, good entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is the foundation of this country and what we stand for. And what we need as capitalists is more capital so we can create more opportunities, more value, ultimately more jobs and more freedom. And the great thing is it feels like, and often is, the odds are stacked against us, but sometimes there are tools and resources we never knew existed available to us that are free. And you've got income, you know, like money that's sitting in a little bank account that is all yours and you can have it back because you didn't know there was an exception to the rule that you could take advantage of. That's ethical Moral and totally legal. And why the hell not? That's really what I wanted to make this episode about is why not? Why not take advantage of the resources and tools that are already there and yours?

Well, think about what's the perception of the tax code. The perception is it's written by rich people and only the rich people get to use it. And you always get to feel like nothing ever applies to me. Well, the amazing thing about the R and D credit is that they built it for the low to mid market small business owner. They built it for you. We've had someone that had $450,000 of gross revenue. I'm not trying to discount that as bad because that's extraordinary. You should absolutely celebrate that they've qualified for the R and D credit. That person probably is netting 80 to $90,000 in like personal income and they qualified for the R and D credit. We're talking about a true middle class American. Now was it tens of thousands of dollars? No, it was like five grand. But five grand to that person is just as impactful. It is to the people we've helped get hundreds of thousands of dollars back from the R and D credit. So I really want to echo that. The tax code sometimes feels out there, but it actually, when you look at it and you start to look at it at a logical way, the R and D credit specifically was written so that you can pay less in taxes. So you can be given the permission to take risk and grow your business. With knowing that I get some buffer here, I'm going to get some tax savings back.

Right on. And again, speaking for myself, looking back, I was just thinking about that story and saying it's because of the R and D tax credit that I took more risks. I definitely invested in creating some more products. We grew our business and we added four new jobs this past year as a result of the multiplier effect. So if there was one wish that I'd have for anyone, it's that you get to take advantage of that too. And it also gave me more courage because this year I'm in Mexico right now. We've been living here and will be. And it's because of the abundance we're able to create. And also we have a home in Spain and I just became a temporary Mexican. Well, they call, it's the equivalent of a green card in Mexico. So we've been working on becoming multinational citizens as well. And it's really because there are tools that give me more courage, more confidence and not feeling oppressed upon. But Instead expansive. And all of us founders, all of us entrepreneurs need some help there because you don't wake up that way every day, that's for sure.

100%. I really love the mindset thing here, Mike, because I think if you can connect with this mindset of I now have this permission because you feel more abundant because you're taking advantage of what you feel everyone else above you is already taken advantage of and now you're rising your game. And I just think that this is whatever the permission is or whatever your dream life and your aspirations are, I hope that the R and D credit can unlock those just a little bit to help you accelerate getting there. Because what you're sharing here, Mike, is very inspirational because that's the goal of why we do what we're doing, is to give the entrepreneur the permission to do that.

Yeah. And a little unfair advantage that's perfectly moral, legal and ethical is a great way to do it. So if you don't do it just for you, do it for your family, do it for your children, do it for the idea of what the United States of America is. And that's really what this is about to me. So, Justin, thank you. And one more time, go to capabilityamplifier.com tax, no brainer, no obligation. Just talk to Justin or his team and see if getting this in motion will make a difference in your life and business. You have the last words. Sarah, what do you got?

Yeah, I think the last thing I'd like to say is I'm going to make this real for people. This is a big example, but I wanted to highlight who this can be for and what type of money they can expect back. And so this person, we just barely did this one. He has five medical practices. He's going to give back $550,000 after the fees that come into it, he's probably going to walk close to about 390. There's some taxes and things that happen. 390 net back to him. That 390 net back to him is 100% tax free. It's all the taxes have been out. So you think about how hard it is for him to make 390 after taxes. That's about $600,000 that he has to create to create that. And he's getting it in an instant. And he didn't have to work for it. He already earned it. He already qualified for the credit. He already did it. He already did the work to do it. Now that's an upper end person. That's A big business. But if you're on the lower end, you're getting five grand back. That's five grand tax free. And it could be anywhere from five we've had. Our lowest is two grand. Two to 500,000. That's a huge swath of money for people. And I just want to give you the permission to know that that's real money. You've already earned it, you've already qualified for it. Our whole team will go in and discover it for you, and we'll help you pull that money back so that it's yours and you can step into that dream aspiration of what you want to accomplish in your life.

Yes. And the one thing, if you're raising your finger and going, what's the catch? Okay, there isn't a catch. They don't charge any fees for doing the research. They do all the work and they just take a percentage of what you're getting back. So it's just like, it's free money and it's the. To me, it's probably one of, if not the easiest check I've ever written because it was there in just a couple of weeks.

So, no, the cool thing is there's no obligation to talk to us. There's no money up front to talk to us. We'll do all the work. Then when you know you're going to get the money, you pay us. And then the amazing thing is we still have a guarantee that if for whatever reason, the IRS doesn't send a check, they disagree with us, they send the money back, we'll refund the full thing. So there is no risk we're going to give you, like, you only pay us money if you actually keep the money. If you get the money, it's in your pocket and you keep it and the IRS never takes it back. It's 100% yours. That's how you know you paid us. So it's 100% up to you. No obligation. I'd love to have a conversation. Our team would love to have a conversation. And just if you qualify for this, you've already done the work and that's. You're taking advantage. We already did. Yeah.

Get more of your money back. All right, so with that, this is Justin Maxwell from Big Life Financial. I'm Mike Koenigs, your host of Capability Amplifier. Thank you for watching. Thank you for taking action and make it an amazing, amazing, abundant year.