> As the article suggests some are just filing incorrectly, what are the real risks and consequences of this?
Provided you never used an R&D tax credit, none.
But if you did, with a huge templated report report about software R&D, you have a verbatim provable record of doing R&D expenses. And those reports, they come from 10 different vendors who all use the same words and formatting. The IRS could easily solve one case and get everyone.
Just to clear this up, this change is unrelated to if you've taken the R&D credit. You should take it as it slightly helps offset this change, but regardless the calculation applies to dev salaries and costs without regard to if you've actually taken the R&D credit.
Provided you never used an R&D tax credit, none.
But if you did, with a huge templated report report about software R&D, you have a verbatim provable record of doing R&D expenses. And those reports, they come from 10 different vendors who all use the same words and formatting. The IRS could easily solve one case and get everyone.