The Mississippi R&D tax credit, explained
Mississippi's R&D credit pays $1,000 per new qualifying research job each year for five years, not a percentage of research spend.
Last verified July 2026 against Mississippi Department of Revenue guidance.
The short answer
Yes, Mississippi has a state R&D credit, but it works differently than most states. The Research and Development Skills Tax Credit, administered by the Mississippi Department of Revenue, is not based on a percentage of research spending at all.
How the Mississippi credit works
Instead, it pays a flat $1,000 per year for each new, full time research position a company creates in Mississippi, for up to five years per position. Qualifying jobs need a bachelor's degree in a scientific or technical field, work in that field of expertise, and professional level pay. There is no minimum number of jobs required to qualify.
The credit is nonrefundable and can only offset up to 50% of the company's Mississippi income tax liability, combined with a few related jobs credits. Unused credit carries forward for five years.
How it stacks with the federal credit
Because Mississippi's credit is tied to headcount rather than spend, it stacks with the federal R&D credit in a straightforward way: they are simply two separate calculations. The federal credit, worth roughly 6% to 10% of qualified research spend, is calculated on the company's total qualified research expenses. The Mississippi credit is calculated separately, per new qualifying employee.
Startups under $5 million in revenue can apply the federal credit against up to $500,000 a year in payroll taxes, which matters most for early companies with no income tax bill yet. Mississippi's credit only offsets state income tax, so a pre-revenue company will likely need to carry it forward.
Example: a Mississippi engineering firm hires 4 new research employees, all qualifying chemists and engineers with an average salary of $100,000. That is $4,000 a year in state credit, for up to five years per hire. If that same team's research spend of about $400,000 also qualifies for the federal credit, the federal credit adds roughly $28,000. Combined, that is about $32,000 in credits in the first year, calculated two completely different ways.
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Eligibility and how to claim it
Any Mississippi business that creates new, full time research positions can qualify, regardless of industry, as long as each position requires a bachelor's degree in a scientific or technical field and pays a professional level salary. This includes software companies hiring engineers and manufacturers hiring process scientists.
The credit is claimed on the state Tax Credit Summary Schedule, Form 83-401 for corporations or Form 80-401 for individuals, using Credit Code 07. Mississippi allows a business to submit a formal request letter to the Department of Revenue with details on each qualifying employee, though pre-certification is optional rather than required.
Claimship helps document which hires and roles meet the technical and pay thresholds Mississippi's rules require. The company's CPA prepares and files the credit schedule with the Mississippi Department of Revenue, which administers the program.
Official source: Mississippi Department of Revenue.
Carryforward and deadlines
Unused credit carries forward for five years. Mississippi allows a discretionary two year extension of that window if a governor declared disaster prevented the company from using the credit.
There is no fixed annual application deadline for the credit itself, since it is calculated and claimed on the regular Mississippi tax return. Companies that choose to send the optional request letter to the Department of Revenue should do so well before filing so the documentation is ready.