John Kerry: “the manufacturing deduction provided by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 does not include income from goods…”

“the manufacturing deduction provided by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 does not include income from goods produced in any possession of the United States. Today along with Senators Clinton and Schumer, I am introducing legislation which would allow the manufacturing deduction to include income attributable to domestic production in possessions of the United States. This legislation would make the manufacturing deduction available only for the possession income of U.S. residents. During the Senate Finance markup of the manufacturing deduction, I offered an amendment that would extend this deduction to income from goods produced in the possessions of the United States. The amendment was agreed to by the Finance Committee, but unfortunately the provision was not included in the conference agreement. I do not know why the Republican chaired conference committee removed this provision so important to the people of Puerto Rico and elsewhere. Most United States businesses that operate in the possessions use the possessions tax credit or the Puerto Rican economic activities credits. In 1996, Congress passed the Small Business Job Protection Act of 1996 which included a provision that phased-out the tax credits and completely repeals them beginning in 2006. The legislation that I am introducing today would help the businesses that are no longer able to benefit from these credits. More importantly, this legislation provides an equitable solution.…”