Jim Bunning: “I am happy to join with my colleagues in offering an amendment to address the net operating loss NOL rules in the…”

“I am happy to join with my colleagues in offering an amendment to address the net operating loss NOL rules in the Internal Revenue Code. The NOL carryback and carryover rules are designed to allow taxpayers to ease swings in business income that result from business cycle fluctuations and unexpected financial losses. I am certain that every Senator on the floor will admit that the last few years have been difficult for many American companies. But we have finally turned the corner and are headed to economic recovery. Businesses are finally ready to reinvest in equipment and, more importantly, create new jobs. The NOL provisions increase the cash flow of many struggling American companies and help them to hire and retain workers and fund capital investments. Under current law, companies may carry back NOL for 2 years. In the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002, however, we here in Congress recognized the difficult circumstances that many American businesses have found themselves in during recent years and have granted them temporary relief by allowing NOL to be carried back for 5 years, rather than 2. That 5-year carryback provision expired at the end of 2002. I believe that it makes sense to extend the relief we have granted in the past in the form of a 5-year NOL carryback for one additional year.”