The USPTO’s fee schedule offers discounts for small and micro entities.
Small entities are defined as a person, small business of no more than 500 employees, or a non-profit organization. Micro entities are defined as meeting the requirements of small entities, plus not being named on more than 4 previous applications and a gross income of less than $241,830, and is not under obligation to assign or license to an entity with an income exceeding the amount listed above.
If you qualify as a small entity, then there will be a 60% reduction on most patent related fees.
If you qualify as a micro entity, the reduction is 80%.
Given the fee reductions, it perhaps is no surprise that the USPTO has found applicants trying to fit themselves into those categories when they don’t qualify. The PTO recently implemented statutory penalties for false assertions or certifications of small and micro entity status. That fee will be “not less than three times the amount an entity failed to appropriately pay”. The Patent Office will send out notices of payment deficiency and an order to show cause as to why the fine shouldn’t be assessed.