Payroll Savings You May Be Missing: 9 Tax Credits Most Employers Never Claim

Here's an uncomfortable question: how much of your payroll and benefits spend is already earning you a federal tax credit that nobody's claiming?

For most employers, the honest answer is “no idea.” Paid leave, childcare support, hiring decisions, retirement plans, health coverage. These all get treated as pure cost. But the tax code doesn't see them that way. It rewards a surprising number of them, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) just made several of those rewards a lot bigger, effective for tax years starting in 2026.

Here's the shortlist, what changed, and where the money actually is.

The shortlist

Ballpark figures for general orientation only. Actual eligibility and amounts depend on your specific facts, talk to a tax advisor before relying on any of these numbers.

The leave credit nobody applies for

If you offer paid family or medical leave voluntarily, not because a state mandates it, Section 45S pays you back 12.5% to 25% of what you spend on it, and the greater the percentage of an employee's regular wages your policy covers, the higher the rate becomes. This credit used to be temporary, and complex enough that most employers skipped it. OBBBA made it permanent for 2026 onward and cleaned up the rules.

The part that surprises people: you don't need to be big enough for FMLA to apply. A ten-person company with a compliant written policy, two weeks of leave, at least 50% pay, one year of tenure, no retaliation clause, qualifies exactly the same as a Fortune 500 company.

Child care just went from nice-to-have to actually worth it

Section 45F has existed for years, quietly capped at $150,000 a year: too small for most employers to bother chasing. Starting in 2026, that changes dramatically.

The credit rate increased from 25% to 40% of eligible childcare expenses, and to 50% for small businesses. Just as important, you no longer need to build and own your own daycare, contracting with a third-party provider or a childcare platform now counts. That single change turns this from a benefit only mega-employers could afford into something a 40-person company can realistically use.

The hiring credit with a 28-day trapdoor

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit pays you for hiring people from targeted groups, veterans, long-term unemployed workers, SNAP recipients and others, up to $2,400 per hire, or as much as $9,600 for certain veterans.

Salons just got a restaurant-only perk

For decades, the FICA tip credit, a refund of the 7.65% employer FICA tax on tip income above a wage floor, belonged to restaurants and bars only. As of tax years beginning after December 31, 2024, it's permanently open to beauty and personal-care businesses too: salons, barbershops, spas and nail studios.

One wrinkle: beauty businesses use the current $7.25 minimum wage in the calculation (restaurants use a frozen $5.15 rate from 2007) and must clear a 15% test, tips need to equal at least 15% of gross receipts. It all depends on clean, consistent tip reporting; the credit itself is simple once the payroll data is accurate.

The smaller credits worth five minutes of your time

• Disabled Access Credit (§ 44). Covers a share of what small businesses spend making the workplace more accessible. Ramps, adaptive equipment, accessible materials. Often applies to upgrades employers make anyway, without knowing a credit exists.
• Retirement Plan Startup Credit (§ 45E). Offsets the admin cost of launching a new 401(k) or SIMPLE IRA for small employers for the first few years, removing a lot of the excuse not to start one.
• Small Employer Health Insurance Credit (§ 45R). Up to 50% of premiums for coverage bought through the SHOP Marketplace, for employers under 25 full-time-equivalent staff, though it's only usable for two consecutive years, so timing matters.

The big ones: R&D and clean energy

The R&D credit doesn't require a lab coat. Building new software, refining a manufacturing process, developing a new product. All of it can qualify for a credit worth roughly 20% of qualified research spending, and small businesses with little tax liability can even apply it against payroll tax instead of income tax.

Clean energy credits are the most complex and fastest-moving item on this list, covering everything from EV purchases to renewable energy investment to efficient-building upgrades, with rules that have shifted twice in the last few years. Worth a conversation before any major energy or fleet decision, not worth trying to navigate alone.

The real takeaway

The value of most tax credits isn't determined by tax strategy. It's determined by operational discipline. These incentives reward activities employers are already undertaking: supporting families, expanding hiring, investing in innovation, improving benefits and strengthening workplaces.

Key takeaways

• Eligibility is rarely the problem. Documentation is.
• Payroll and HR data are often the difference between claiming a credit and missing it.
• Most unclaimed credits are lost because deadlines, forms or recordkeeping requirements were missed.
• The best time to prepare for a credit is when the activity occurs, not when tax season arrives.
• A well-designed payroll and HR process can turn tax credits into a predictable annual source of savings.

Tax credits reward good business practices, but only businesses with the right documentation get paid for them.