Paul Starrett

Credits are decided on the evidence: the record of what was uncertain, what was tried, and how it was evaluated. That record is easiest to capture while the work is happening; months later, people have moved on and systems have changed. Claims reconstructed years after the work are where many have failed.

• While the research is happening: setting up how evidence of experimentation is captured from the systems your engineers already use, so the claim can be proven later
• Before you claim or amend: characterizing which work qualifies, and testing whether the record proves it, before an examiner does. Reviews of prior claims are conducted under attorney-client privilege
• When the IRS or FTB examines: defense from the first document request, built on what the engineers actually did
• When you raise money or sell: whether the credits in the deal hold up, and what the exposure is, including how AI assets are characterized in the acquisition

Alongside your CPA, at a price agreed up front.

• Alongside your CPA. I establish which work qualifies and the technical basis for it, including how compute splits between development and production. Your CPA applies that to the numbers, computes the credit, and prepares the return.
• Fixed fees, not a percentage of the credit. Scope and price are agreed before work begins.
• Privilege where it matters. I can serve as counsel to the company, or as a consulting expert retained by its counsel, so the work is protected where the law allows.

Establishing what technology actually did, on a record that holds up, answers more than tax questions.

• AI governance: whether a system does what its policy says it does, documented before a regulator or plaintiff asks
• Disputes and investigations: reconstructing what a system actually did when its outputs are challenged, as counsel, consulting expert, or testifying expert witness