The New York R&D tax credit, explained
New York's R&D credit is not self-calculated. Companies apply through Empire State Development programs like Excelsior or Life Sciences.
Last verified July 2026 against Empire State Development and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance guidance.
The short answer
New York does not offer a simple state R&D credit that any company can calculate and claim on its own return, the way California or Massachusetts do. Instead, New York runs the credit through two Empire State Development programs that require an application and approval before a company can claim anything.
How the New York credit works
The Excelsior Jobs Program includes a research and development credit worth up to 50% of a company's federal R&D credit tied to New York spending, capped at 6% of New York qualified research expenses for most projects, 7% for semiconductor supply chain projects, and 8% for green projects. It comes with job-creation and investment commitments, and Empire State Development has to approve the project first.
A separate Life Sciences Research and Development Tax Credit Program pays 15% of New York research spending for companies with 10 or more employees, or 20% for companies with fewer than 10 employees, capped at $500,000 a year for up to three years. It is open to new life sciences companies certified by Empire State Development, and the statewide pool is capped at $10 million a year, awarded first come, first served.
How it stacks with the federal credit
Both New York programs are refundable once a company is approved, so they behave differently from the nonrefundable credits most states offer. They also stack with the federal R&D credit, which runs roughly 6% to 10% of qualified spending and lets startups under $5 million in revenue apply up to $500,000 of it against payroll tax each year.
Consider a New York biotech startup with 8 scientists at an average salary of $135,000, or about $1.08 million in wages. If the company is certified into the Life Sciences program and has fewer than 10 employees, it could claim 20% of its qualified New York research spending, or roughly $216,000, paid as a refund rather than carried forward.
On the federal side, at a rate near 7%, the same spending might generate about $75,600 in federal credit, most of which the startup can apply against payroll tax instead of waiting for income tax liability. Together, that is real cash back on both fronts in the same year. This is an example. The Life Sciences credit requires certification, and actual amounts depend on approval, employee count, and each company's qualified spending.
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Eligibility and how to claim it
Eligibility depends entirely on which New York program a company applies to. Excelsior is open to companies in targeted industries, including scientific research and development, technology, and manufacturing, that commit to creating a minimum number of new jobs, generally in the range of 5 to 150 depending on the industry.
The Life Sciences credit is narrower. It is limited to new businesses in fields like biotechnology, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, and related life sciences, and a company must be certified by Empire State Development as a qualified life sciences company before it can claim any research spending.
Companies apply to Empire State Development through the Consolidated Funding Application, and once certified, claim the credit on Form CT-607 or IT-607 for Excelsior, or Form CT-648 or IT-648 for Life Sciences, filed with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance return. Claimship prepares the research documentation your CPA needs for these filings. Your CPA is the one who files the return and the credit forms.
Official source: Empire State Development and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
Carryforward and deadlines
Both programs require applying and getting certified before a company can claim any credit, so timing matters more in New York than in most states. Companies should apply well before the tax year they want the credit to cover, since Empire State Development review and approval takes time.
The Life Sciences program's $10 million annual pool is awarded first come, first served, so companies that wait too long in a given year risk missing out even if they qualify. Carryforward is generally not a factor for either program, since approved credits are paid out as refunds rather than carried forward.