Missouri · research and development · MO-RD-001
Qualified Research Expense Tax Credit
Publication revised September 24, 2026. Sourcebook page 165.
Credit amount / calculation
Generally 15% of additional qualified research expenses or 20% with qualifying university collaboration; $300,000 taxpayer cap and $10 million annual cap.
Business fit and eligible activity
Manufacturers with increased Missouri qualified research expenses can apply for an allocation-limited credit. Qualified research activity. Ordinary production, routine quality control and an equipment purchase alone do not qualify.
Eligibility and practical use
For forest products, research credits usually live on the mill floor rather than in a laboratory. Scanner settings, drying schedules, process-control changes, product testing, and equipment modifications can matter when the work is experimental rather than routine. A logging company has a narrower path, but equipment-control, software, or process-development work can sometimes qualify if it satisfies the same technical tests. This program also has an advance procedural step, so the technical work should not begin on the assumption that a later application will cure the timing issue.
Illustrative business benefit
A hardwood mill spends $320,000 on a documented project to improve recovery from low-grade logs using scanner changes, controlled test runs, software adjustments, and revised sawing patterns. Assume $200,000 is ultimately treated as the relevant qualified or excess research base. At 15%, the state credit would be about $30,000 before program caps and tax-liability limits. The company would need records showing the uncertainty, alternatives tested, people involved, and results - not simply a year-end estimate of 'engineering time.'
Timing / first action
Tax-year claim: document the eligible expense, hire or placed-in-service date and meet any separate certification deadline. The application window for 2025 expenses is August 1-September 30, 2026.
Official sources
Related programs
Missouri Works Tax Credit
Approved projects may retain withholding on qualifying new
Expanding manufacturers can earn performance-based credits, but the program has strict pre-project timing.
New Investment Tax Credit
up to
Effective August 28, 2026, this credit targets very large capital projects and will usually be above small-mill scale.
Wood Energy Tax Credit
$5 per ton of processed material for up to five years
Rare forest-specific production credit for processed wood products made from Missouri forest-product residue.
Clean Electricity Investment Credit (Internal Revenue Code §48E)
Generally
Potentially relevant when a forest-products facility owns qualifying zero-emission generation or energy-storage property.
Credit for Increasing Research Activities (Internal Revenue Code §41)
Regular research-credit method
A sawmill, secondary manufacturer or biomass business can qualify when it performs genuine technological experimentation to improve a product or process.
Rehabilitation Credit (Internal Revenue Code §47)
Generally
A forest-products company rehabilitating a certified historic mill or industrial building for income-producing use may qualify.