The Disabled Access Credit: what to ask your accountant about Form 8826
Some small businesses may qualify for a federal credit for eligible access expenses. Keep the eligibility test, expense review and calculation separate.
If you are budgeting for website accessibility work, you may have heard about a federal tax credit. It is worth discussing with your accountant. It is not a reason to assume that half of every web invoice will come back to you.
The source for the figures below is IRS Form 8826. This article is general information, not tax advice. Your accountant should confirm the applicable tax-year instructions and decide whether your business and each expense qualify before you rely on an estimate.
First, check the business eligibility test
Form 8826 describes an eligible small business using the preceding tax year. One route is gross receipts that did not exceed $1 million. The other is having no more than 30 full-time employees. The form uses either condition, rather than requiring both.
For this test, the form counts an employee as full-time at 30 or more hours per week for 20 or more weeks during the tax year. Give your accountant the payroll and receipts records needed for the review. Do not substitute a casual headcount from a busy week.
Keep the eligibility question separate from the expense question. Meeting the business-size test does not establish that every proposed service is an eligible access expenditure. Ask the accountant to address both questions in the estimate they prepare for you.
Then, ask which expenses qualify
Website accessibility work may qualify. Whether a particular cost qualifies is for your accountant to decide. Give them an itemized scope before approving a budget that depends on a credit. A general label such as website improvements does not explain what work the invoice includes.
Ask your provider to separate accessibility work from unrelated design or marketing work. Request a description of the barriers being addressed and the services being performed. That gives your accountant information to evaluate. The provider should not decide your tax treatment as part of a sales pitch.
Understand the calculation and its cap
Form 8826 uses 50% of eligible access spending above the first $250, with spending considered only up to $10,250. The maximum credit is therefore $5,000. Keep the threshold and cap in view when a quote advertises a percentage.
For an arithmetic example, assume $6,000 of expenses have already been found eligible. Subtracting $250 leaves $5,750. Half of that is $2,875. This example illustrates the calculation only. It does not establish that any particular project, taxpayer or invoice qualifies.
If eligible spending is higher than $10,250, the same calculation cap still applies. Do not calculate half of an unlimited project budget. Ask your accountant to show the inputs and the applicable limit in the estimate you use for planning.
Keep the invoice and the work record together
Save the proposal, itemized invoice and proof of payment with the project records. Keep the dates and descriptions of the work. Ask your accountant which records they need and how long you should retain them. Follow their instructions for your situation.
Keep a separate technical record of the barriers and retests. It might show that a checkout field received a usable label or that a keyboard barrier was repaired. That record explains the work. It is not a tax determination or a certificate of legal compliance.
Ask practical questions before committing
Bring a short list to the accountant: which tax year applies, whether the business meets the size test and which quoted items qualify. Ask how the credit would affect your own return and what documentation is missing. Leave room for an answer that differs from the vendor's estimate.
Bring different questions to the provider. What will be tested? Which barriers are included in the repair scope? What evidence will show that the work was completed? Keep the tax conversation and the technical acceptance conversation connected through the invoice, with the right person owning each decision.
Budget for work you actually need
A possible credit should follow a real accessibility plan. Start with the customer tasks that need attention and a clear repair scope. Compare proposals on the work and evidence they include. A tax claim cannot tell you whether a menu or form is usable.
If the accountant cannot confirm eligibility yet, plan without counting the credit as certain money. Ask what evidence would resolve the question. Do not let an advertised tax benefit rush a signing decision or replace a review of the actual project.
The useful result of this conversation is a documented budget with its assumptions visible. You know who checked the business test, who evaluated the expenses and who will verify the website repairs. Keep those decisions with the project so they can be reviewed later.
Access Heroes may earn a commission if you buy a tool we recommend. You pay the tool's maker directly, and we always tell you before you sign up. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice.
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Want help identifying the website work to discuss with your accountant? Book a free web accessibility check with TJ. He will look at your site with you and tell you what to fix first.
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