Max Baucus: “the R&D tax credit has been an issue before us for quite some time, almost as long as I can remember since I have been…”

“the R&D tax credit has been an issue before us for quite some time, almost as long as I can remember since I have been in the Senate. The basic questions are, Should we extend the R&D tax credit and, second, should we make it permanent? Much too often the Congress has decided, yes, to extend the credit, which I agree with, but not to make it permanent. For the life of me, I cannot understand why we have not made this credit permanent. I have introduced legislation, bipartisan legislation, which Senator Hatch and myself introduced, to make the R&D tax credit permanent. Similar legislation has also been introduced in the other body by Congresswoman Nancy Johnson and Congressman Robert Matsui, along with other members of each of their parties. This is bicameral. It is bipartisan. We believe very strongly that the research and development tax credit should be made permanent. In fact, there are about 28 sponsors of our legislation in the Senate. It is about evenly divided between both sides. I would like to make a couple of points. The very bottom line is, this amendment will very much help the American economy. Making the R&D tax credit permanent will give U.S. businesses, particularly in the technology sector, the confidence that those companies can invest in research and development and not have to keep guessing whether Congress is going to extend or not extend this tax credit.”