US House of Representatives passes the American Research & Competitiveness Act

By a vote of 274 to 131, US House of Representatives passed legislation (the American Research and Competitiveness Act; HR 4438), which increase and make permanent the R&D tax credit. HR 4438 would increase the tax credit to 20% from the 14% credit which expired last year. The bill will now go to the US Senate.

Congressional budget analysts estimate the government would lose about $156 billion in revenue over 10 years under the House bill (HR 4438), which does not include any offsets to recover the tax credit’s cost.

However, although the House bill has bipartisan support, the White House is threatening a veto. The Senate, meanwhile, is working on its own bill, which would extend the R&D tax break for just two years.