California Business Incentive Finder
Answer a few questions to see which current GO-Biz, FTB, CDTFA, and IBank business incentive programs you may be a plausible candidate for — and which ones sound live online but actually aren't right now.
California runs over a dozen active business incentive programs across GO-Biz, the Franchise Tax Board, CDTFA, CAEATFA, ETP, and IBank — but several programs that still get mentioned online (a small-business set-aside in California Competes, the California Competes Grant Program, the New Employment Credit for 2026 hires) are either eliminated, unfunded, or sunset. This tool checks your situation against what's actually live right now.
Answer these questions once to see your likely matches.
California Business Incentive Finder
Your Likely Business Incentives
How this is calculated
This tool matches your answers against each program's actual eligibility gate, not a formula — most GO-Biz incentives are discretionary or competitive rather than automatic. The California Competes Tax Credit is open to any size or industry with up to $820M allocated across three FY2026-27 rounds, scored on job creation and investment — note the old 25% small-business set-aside was eliminated in 2018.
Sales tax and training programs
The Manufacturing & R&D Partial Sales Tax Exemption knocks 3.9375 percentage points off sales tax on qualifying equipment with no application (self-certified at purchase), while the CAEATFA exclusion is a full exclusion reserved for new/expanded manufacturing facilities and requires Board approval. The R&D credit runs 15% of qualified research expenses under the regular method.
ETP reimburses $11-$28/hour of training costs, paid only after employees complete training and stay 90+ days. Financing questions route you to IBank's loan guarantee (up to 80% of a loan) and CalCAP's loan-loss-reserve program.
Programs that are not live
The tool also flags two commonly-mentioned programs that are not currently live: the New Employment Credit (sunset for hires after 2025) and the California Competes Grant Program (unfunded since FY2023-24) — so you don't waste time chasing something that no longer exists.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the California Competes Tax Credit still reserving 25% for small businesses?
No. The small-business set-aside was eliminated in 2018. Before then, 25% of the annual pool was reserved for businesses under $2 million in gross receipts — that carve-out no longer exists, so small businesses now compete for the same pool as everyone else based on the program's 14 scoring factors.
Is the California Competes Grant Program currently accepting applications?
No. This separate cash-grant companion to the tax credit was proposed for funding in both the 2024-25 and 2025-26 state budgets but was left out of both enacted budgets. As of the last verification, no active solicitation exists — the most recent one was for fiscal year 2023-24.
Can I still get a tax credit for hiring new employees in California?
The New Employment Credit only applies to qualifying hires made before January 1, 2026 — no new hire in 2026 or later generates fresh credit under current law. If you're hiring someone who is currently experiencing homelessness (or was in the prior 180 days), the separate Homeless Hiring Tax Credit is still active.
What's the difference between the manufacturing sales tax exemption and the CAEATFA exclusion?
The CDTFA manufacturing/R&D partial exemption is self-certified at the register with no application — you just hand the retailer a form when buying qualifying equipment. The CAEATFA sales & use tax exclusion is much bigger (a full exclusion, not partial) but requires an actual application and discretionary Board approval, and is really aimed at new or expanded advanced manufacturing facilities, not routine equipment purchases.
What if none of these programs fit my business?
Check GO-Biz's own California Business Incentives List, which tracks roughly 60 state programs across every agency, or use CalGOLD to find permits and smaller local/regional incentives specific to your city and industry.
This tool provides an educational estimate only and is not affiliated with GO-Biz, FTB, CDTFA, CAEATFA, ETP, or IBank. Program funding, application windows, and eligibility rules change with every state budget cycle — confirm current status and deadlines directly with the administering agency before applying or making a business decision.