Most business owners believe that if you miss a tax credit during the filing year, that money is lost forever. But that’s not always the case. There are still several valuable tax credits available in 2025 that can be claimed for past years if your business qualifies and takes the right steps.
Whether you were unaware of a credit, advised that you didn’t qualify, or simply ran out of time, there may still be opportunities to recover significant value by filing an amended return. These aren’t fringe loopholes. They’re legitimate federal programs designed to reward business investment, hiring, and innovation. If you haven’t reviewed your eligibility in the last few years, now is the time to do so.
R&D Tax Credit
The federal R&D tax credit rewards companies for improving products, developing internal tools, building software, or solving technical problems. Most businesses don’t realize that this credit can be backdated. In 2025, you may still be able to claim credits from tax years 2022, 2021, or even 2020, depending on your original filing dates and whether the statute of limitations is still open.
Businesses often miss out on this credit because it’s not always clear which activities qualify. If you worked on a prototype, created new features, or improved a production process that involved some technical uncertainty, your activity may qualify. The same is true if you paid employees or contractors for that work, used cloud services for testing, or tracked experimentation across multiple iterations.
Filing requires documentation, but it’s not overwhelming. The key is to describe what was built or tested, who did the work, and why it involved solving a problem with no obvious answer at the start. If your CPA never brought this up, that doesn’t mean you don’t qualify.
Employee Retention Credit
The Employee Retention Credit was created during the pandemic and remains one of the most valuable credits available for retroactive filing. If your business had W-2 employees during 2020 or 2021 and was affected by a government mandate or significant disruption to operations, you may still be able to claim this credit for one or more quarters.
Many companies skipped the ERC because the rules were unclear early on. Others thought that receiving a PPP loan made them ineligible for other benefits. In both cases, the eligibility criteria were later expanded, allowing far more companies to qualify than expected. Amended payroll tax returns can still be filed for several quarters in 2025, but the deadlines are approaching. If you haven’t had a qualified review, there’s a good chance you’re leaving money behind.
Work Opportunity Tax Credit
The Work Opportunity Tax Credit encourages employers to hire individuals from specific target groups, including veterans, long-term unemployed individuals, and people who have received certain types of government assistance. While this credit does require pre-screening at the time of hire, many businesses have already completed that step without realizing it.
If your HR system, payroll provider, or applicant tracking tool prompted you to fill out pre-employment forms, you may already have what’s needed to claim this credit retroactively. It’s often overlooked because the follow-through isn’t built into most tax prep systems. If you made multiple hires over the last two years, especially in roles with higher turnover, this credit may be sitting unused.
Disabled Access Credit
If your business made upgrades to improve accessibility for employees or customers with disabilities, you may qualify for a federal credit covering a portion of the cost. This could include physical improvements, such as installing ramps or accessible restrooms, or digital upgrades, like website enhancements or assistive technology.
To qualify, your business must meet size limits, typically fewer than 30 full-time employees or with gross receipts of under $1 million. Most businesses that qualify don’t claim this credit because accessibility work is often seen as a capital improvement, not a credit opportunity. If you’ve made these kinds of upgrades in the last few years, the cost may still be recoverable.
Recovery Startup Credit
The Recovery Startup Credit was designed for newer businesses that began operations after February 15, 2020. If your company paid employees in the second half of 2021 and met basic eligibility thresholds, you may still qualify for this specialized version of the Employee Retention Credit.
What makes this credit unique is that it doesn’t require a revenue drop or a pandemic-related shutdown to qualify. If your gross receipts averaged under one million dollars and you had W-2 payroll in 2021, there may still be time to file for this credit in 2025.
This is a lesser-known opportunity that typically applies to businesses launched during the pandemic, and it’s one of the few credits created specifically for early-stage founders. The deadline is not far off, so it’s worth reviewing before the filing window closes.
Act Before These Opportunities Disappear
Each of the credits mentioned above requires amending past tax filings. The IRS generally allows three years from the date you filed to submit an amendment. Once that window passes, the refund is no longer available.
If you’ve only ever worked with a generalist tax preparer, there’s a strong chance they missed one or more of these opportunities. That’s not a knock on your CPA. Most aren’t trained in tax credit strategy, and some credits require a different level of documentation than standard compliance work.
There’s still time to claim what your business may be owed. But like most things with the IRS, there’s a deadline.
Get a Second Look from NestWorth
At NestWorth, we specialize in identifying missed credits and helping business owners file correctly and confidently. Whether you’re exploring the R&D tax credit for the first time, questioning whether your ERC eligibility was assessed correctly, or want a clean review of the last three years, we can help.
Schedule a free assessment and let’s find out what your business may still qualify for.
