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Claimship vs TaxTaker

TaxTaker is a specialty tax firm, not software. Its accountants and engineers interview your team, build a conservative study, and charge a success fee only if you qualify. Like Claimship, it works alongside the CPA you already have.

The differences are evidence and price. Claimship builds the study from your commits, pull requests, and tickets instead of interviews, and charges a flat $1,500 to $3,000 per year instead of an unpublished percentage of the credit.

ClaimshipTaxTaker
Pricing modelFlat fee. $1,500 to $3,000 per year, published on the pricing page. You keep 100% of the credit.Success fee, charged only if you qualify. The percentage is not published as of July 2026. Payment plans run 6 or 12 months. The initial assessment is free.
Who gathers the evidenceSoftware reads your GitHub, Linear, Jira, and Slack with read-only access. You confirm edge cases in a short weekly review. No interviews or timesheets.TaxTaker's accounting and engineering team interviews your engineers and technical leads, then documents qualified activities and expenses.
Audit supportEvery qualified dollar links to the commit, PR, or ticket that earned it. Primary evidence, not reconstructed interviews.Its FAQ says TaxTaker will defend you in the event of an audit, and it markets conservative, audit-ready documentation.
What your CPA getsA finished study and Form 6765 package. Your CPA reviews it and files it with your return. Claimship never files taxes.A study and substantiation package. Your CPA files it with your return. TaxTaker also says you should keep your existing accountant.
IntegrationsGitHub, Linear, Jira, Slack, Gmail, Outlook, Notion, Rippling, Gusto. All read-only.A payroll integration is mentioned by customers, but no named dev-tool or accounting integrations are advertised.
Time from the founderAbout 15 minutes to connect your tools, then a short weekly review.Customers describe it as low maintenance. Interview time for your technical team is not published.

Claims about TaxTaker were checked against taxtaker.com in July 2026. TaxTaker also offers other incentives, including the 179D deduction, the 45L credit, and cost segregation, which this page does not compare.

Sources: TaxTaker FAQ · TaxTaker R&D tax credits · TaxTaker on G2

How Claimship works

From connected repos to cash collected in four steps

01

Connect

Connect GitHub, Linear, Jira, Slack, Gmail, your payroll provider, and a bank or card feed. Access is read-only. Setup takes about 15 minutes.

02

Classify

Claimship checks every pull request, ticket, and thread against the IRS four-part test. You confirm the edge cases in a short weekly review.

03

Document

Claimship builds the study. Project narratives, payroll allocations, and Form 6765 numbers. Every dollar links back to the commit, PR, or ticket that earned it.

04

Collect

Your CPA files one form with your return. Claimship pushes the credit into Rippling or Gusto and tracks it every quarter until the full amount lands.

Pricing is a flat fee of $1,500 to $3,000 per year based on team size. You keep 100% of the credit. Estimate yours with the credit calculator.

When TaxTaker is a better fit

TaxTaker is a small, well-reviewed team with a consultative model. It is the better choice when:

  • Your R&D is not software. Hardware, biotech, and other lab or shop work needs judgment calls that interviews with licensed engineers handle well. Claimship is built for software teams whose work lives in git and tickets.
  • You want more than the R&D credit. TaxTaker also handles 179D, 45L, the investment tax credit, EV charging credits, and cost segregation. One vendor can cover all of them.
  • You want a human walking you through it. Reviewers praise the team for explaining the process live and being responsive. If you want a person, not a product, that service is real.

Common questions

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Find out what your startup is owed

Tell us about your company. We connect your tools, run a first pass, and show you the number. If the credit isn't worth it, we'll tell you.