Meta is defending about $355 million in federal research credits after treating roughly $4.1 billion of Mark Zuckerberg’s stock-option income as research wages for 2012 and 2013, while separately classifying some AI data centers and related equipment as experimental pilot models for the same tax-credit regime. The Internal Revenue Service rejected the Zuckerberg-related credits, arguing that the relevant work period was the options’ vesting period from Jan. 1, 2008, through Nov. 1, 2010, rather than their 2005 grant date. The dispute was before the U.S. Tax Court in May 2025. Meta’s research credits reduced its taxes by $3.9 billion in 2025, compared with $2 billion in 2024 and $700 million in 2023. People familiar with the company’s operations reportedly said Meta accountants worry the IRS could challenge the AI data-center treatment, which involves Nvidia GPUs and other experimental infrastructure. The issues could influence how companies treat executive stock-option income, AI equipment and other technology spending under the research credit.