R&D Amortization Guidance Simplifies Accounting Method Change (1)

Tax experts Tuesday said the research and development guidance the IRS provided Monday streamlined how to report an accounting method change following an amendment to Section 174 of the tax code.

The guidance, Rev. Proc. 2023-8, detailed procedures about how taxpayers note their accounting method change to the IRS for research and development expenditures, or R&D, after a provision in the Republicans’ 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act required that companies amortize these costs over a period of 5 years starting in January 2022.

“I do think taxpayers do appreciate that some of the procedures ...