Earlier this year the U.S. Senate introduced a bill that would allow qualified small businesses (defined as any for-profit business (incorporated or otherwise) with gross receipts for the current year and past five years under $5,000,000) to deduct their research and development expenses from their payroll tax liability for up to five years. Currently, businesses are only permitted to deduct their R&D expenses from their income tax liability; however, the sponsor of the bill, Senator Christopher Coons of Delaware, along with Sens. Enzi, Schumer, Rubio, Blunt, Stabenow, and Moran, argue that early-stage startups who are in the R&D process do not make the income to take advantage of the current R&D credit. Instead, as the Senators have proposed in their bill, startups should be allowed to take the credit on a tax liability they are more likely to have, such as the payroll tax in the proposed bill. While the bill is still currently in the Senate, TechVoice, a partnership of CompTIA and other regional technology associations, launched a portal for others to voice their support for the legislation, including signing up their company as a supporter and contacting their senators and representatives.
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