The U.S. Senate passed a SEMA-supported bill to extend various expiring tax credits and deductions, including the Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit. The House of Representatives passed a different version of the $140 billion bill last December. The legislation must now be reconciled into a single bill. It is unclear how long that process will take since the House and Senate took different approaches on some of the issues.

The R&D Tax Credit lapsed on December 31, 2009, marking the 14th time it had expired since being enacted into law in 1981. SEMA joined more than 100 associations and companies within the R&D Credit Coalition urging Congress to make the credit permanent (or for as long as possible given current budget constraints). The credit offsets costs for companies investing time and money in new technologies and is applicable to both in-house and outside research within the United States.

Both the House and Senate bills would renew the credit for one year, retroactive to January 1, 2010. For more information, contact Stuart Gosswein.