The American Innovation and Jobs Act will help U.S. workers and entrepreneurs for decades to come by ensuring America remains a competitive and welcoming place for companies large and small to invest in R&D.
April 18, 2023
The Honorable Maggie Hassan
324 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Todd Young
185 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senators Hassan and Young:
On behalf of the undersigned taxpayer, consumer, and free market advocates, we applaud you for your ongoing leadership in the effort to restore full and immediate expensing for investments in U.S. research and development (R&D). This leadership is embodied in your re-introduced American Innovation and Jobs Act, which will help U.S. workers and entrepreneurs for decades to come by ensuring America remains a competitive and welcoming place for companies large and small to invest in R&D.
As you know, the federal government’s tax treatment of R&D expenses switched from full and immediate expensing to five-year amortization in tax year 2022, as a result of the 2017 tax reform law. Before 2022, businesses were able to fully expense R&D for decades, dating back to the enactment of section 174 of the Internal Revenue Code in 1954.
The switch to five-year amortization, after decades of full expensing, has the practical effect of making it more expensive for businesses large and small to invest in R&D here in the United States. In a globally connected and technologically advanced world where the U.S. is competing with countries all over the world for workers, ideas, talent, and innovation, the 2022 switch from R&D expensing to amortization came at the worst time.
The Tax Foundation has found that returning to full R&D expensing would increase U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), U.S. gross national product (GNP), capital stock, and U.S. wage rates. The American Innovation and Jobs Act, would permanently restore R&D expensing in the U.S. tax code.
The American Innovation and Jobs Act also expands the section 41 research credit in a variety of ways. While the restoration of full R&D expensing is the most important and impactful provision in your legislation, the research credit expansions appear properly and narrowly targeted at small and start-up businesses, who should be the primary beneficiaries of any research credit
expansion.
Thank you again for your steady and thoughtful work on the vital issue of restoring full expensing for businesses’ U.S. R&D expenditures. Your proposal will have a significant and positive impact on U.S. economic and wage growth.
Sincerely,
AMAC Action
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Encouraging the “Made in the U.S.A.” spirit is the right idea . It will be a huge improvement to restore the incentive to make things here instead of foreign countries. Thinking in terms of the fundamentals of good management, those being, Planning , Organizing, Coordination, Scheduling, and clear, intelligent Communication, will help to advance and increase knowledge needed to provide for a strong economy, better public safety, and the contribution to defending a system that respects liberty. So, Research and Development plans are part of getting things done properly, part of good decision making. This is great news , it is appreciated , Well Done ! to everyone at AMAC Action.