Chemistry is a vast category, ranging from specialty chemicals for fabricating petroleum products, to designing pesticides and fertilizers for agriculture, to producing oils and lubricants for industry. Each step along the development process also has it challenges, and simply developing a new chemical feature is only the beginning of the discussion here. The inherent complexity of the field, and the challenges for manufacturing, lead this to be one of the most well benefitted industries for the R&D Credit.

Some of the broad range of qualified activities include:

Chemistry and Procedure
Underlying the development of chemistry-based products and processes is an iterative design process. These efforts are highly compatible with the R&D Credit, and industries tend to rely heavily on this incentive.

Scope of Manufacturing
Small and large scale manufacturing has very different characteristics. At a small scale, reactions tend to be more easily managed. As scale increases, there are often changes in the outcome, sometimes dramatically. Accordingly, the way in which product is scaled up is as important as its development.

Batching and Mixing
The final stages of development can frequently be excellent opportunities for the R&D Credit. Evaluating and modifying the batching process to produce varied ranges of product are well suited for the R&D Credit.