2015: Schweikert Voted For Extending Permanently The Research And Development Tax Credit As Part Of A Larger Tax Extender Passage. In December 2015, Schweikert voted to extend permanently the research and development tax credit. According to Congressional Quarterly, the legislation would have "ma[de] permanent the research and development (R&D) tax credit that expired at the end of calendar year 2014, but with certain modifications beginning in 2016 that are designed to help with its utilization by small businesses and startups." The underlying measure would "retroactively [renew] for the current 2015 tax year most of the expired provisions and further extends them for varying periods, including by making more than a dozen permanent and extending most others for two years (2015 and 2016)." The vote was on concurring in the Senate amendment to the bill with an amendment. The House passed the amendment by a vote of 318 to 109. The legislation was later combined with an Omnibus appropriations bill. The Senate passed the larger measure and the president signed it. [House Vote 703, 12/17/15; Congressional Quarterly, 12/16/15; Congressional Actions, H.R. 2029]
2015: Schweikert Voted To Permanently Extend The Research And Development Tax Credit. In May 2015, Schweikert voted for permanently extending the R&D tax credit. According to Congressional Quarterly, the legislation would have made "permanent the research and development tax credit that expired at the end of calendar year 2014, and would [have] change[d] the way elements of the credit are calculated. For the credit for qualified research expenses, the measure would eliminate the traditional calculation for the 20 percent qualified research credit, and increase the alternative simplified credit to 20 percent of the amount qualified expenses exceed 50 percent of average qualified expenses for the preceding three tax years. For the basic research credit, the measure would provide that the 20 percent credit would be based on basic research payments that exceed 50 percent of the average basic research payments for the three preceding tax years." The vote was on passage. The House passed the measure by a vote of 274 to 145. The Senate took no substantive action on the legislation. [House Vote 260, 5/20/15; Congressional Quarterly, 5/20/15; Congressional Actions, H.R. 880]
2014: Schweikert Voted For Modifying And Permanently Extending The Research And Development Tax Credit. In September 2014, Schweikert voted for modifying and permanently extending the research and development tax credit. According to House Republicans, "H.R. 4438, the American Research and Competitiveness Act, [...] makes the R&D Tax Credit permanent, paving the way for increased innovation and investment in the U.S. [The bill] Makes permanent and increases to 20 percent the alternative simplified method for calculating the research credit [,] [p]rovides a permanent 20 percent credit for basic research and energy research [,] [m]akes the base period for calculating the credit a three-year rolling average [,] [p]rovides a 10 percent rate if a taxpayer has no qualified research expenses in any of the three preceding taxable years [,] [r]etroactively takes effect after December 31, 2013." This provision was part of a larger bill called the Jobs for America Act. The bill passed the House by a vote of 253-163. The bill died in the Senate. In July 2015, President Obama signed HR 3236, which included the Hire More Heroes Act. [House Vote 513, 9/18/14; GOP.gov, Accessed 9/15/15; Congressional Actions, H.R. 4]
Bill Would Permanently Extend The "Alternative Simplified Method." According to the Congressional Budget Office, "H.R. 4438 would amend the Internal Revenue Code to modify the calculation method and the rate for the tax credit for qualified research expenses that expired at the end of 2013. The modified credit would be made permanent. The bill would not extend the traditional calculation method and its associated 20 percent credit. It would, however, make permanent the 'alternative simplified method' for calculating the tax credit for qualified research expenses and generally increase the associated credit to 20 percent of those expenses that exceed 50 percent of the average qualified research expenses for the three preceding taxable years. It also makes permanent a tax credit for basic research and energy research and changes the base period for the basic research credit from a fixed period to a three-year rolling average." [Congressional Budget Office, 5/1/14]
Supporters Say That Permanently Extending The R&D Credit Would Provide Economic Certainty. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Supporters of the bill argue that making the R&D tax credit permanent would provide much-needed certainty for innovators and enhance the effectiveness of the tax credit. They argue that the temporary nature of the research and development tax credit prevents businesses from making long-term investments in U.S.-based research and that the general research credit can be complicated to calculate. They also note that the cost of tax extenders usually has not been offset." [Congressional Quarterly, 5/5/14]
Democrats Mostly Support The R&D Credit, But Criticize The Provision For Not Having Offsets, Yet Require Offsets For Emergency Unemployment. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Democrats say they mostly support the R&D tax credit but criticize Republicans for not offsetting the cost of the bill, noting that permanently extending the R&D credit and five other tax provisions that GOP leaders want to act on would add $310 billion to the deficit. They say it is 'hypocritical' that Republicans won't offset the R&D credit but let emergency unemployment insurance for the long-term unemployed expire because Democrats could not find an offset that the GOP would support." [Congressional Quarterly, 5/5/14]
Provision Would Increase Federal Deficits By $156 Billon From Fiscal Years 2014 -- 2024. According to the Congressional Budget Office, "The staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) estimates that enacting H.R. 4438 would reduce revenues, thus increasing federal deficits, by about $156 billion over the 2014-2024 period." [Congressional Budget Office, 5/1/14]
2014: Schweikert Voted To Permanently Extend The R&D Tax Credit. In May 2014, Schweikert voted for legislation that would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, "ma[d]e permanent the research and development (R&D) tax credit that expired at the end of calendar year 2013 but modifie[d] the credit to make it simpler to calculate. Under the measure, the cost of permanently extending the R&D tax credit would not be offset, which is estimated to add $156 billion to the deficit over 10 years." The vote was on passage. The House passed the bill by a vote of 274 to 131. The bill died in the Senate. [House Vote 211, 5/9/14; Congressional Quarterly, 5/5/14; Congressional Actions, H.R. 4438]
2014: Schweikert Voted To Extend Numerous Tax Credits And Deductions Through The End Of 2014, Including The Research And Development Credit For Businesses. In December 2014, Schweikert voted for legislation that, according to Congressional Quarterly, "restore[d] for the [...] 2014 tax year more than four dozen so-called 'tax extenders' that benefit particular individuals and business interests --- which would allow businesses and individuals to claim those tax breaks when filing their 2014 tax returns. Most of the renewed tax extenders, notably the research-and-development and tuition tax credits, expired at the end of calendar year 2013. [...] The measure extends 31 provisions that are aimed primarily at businesses, which would reduce revenue by nearly $24 billion over 10 years. [...] The measure extends the research and development credit, at a cost of $7.6 billion over 10 years. This provision provides either a 20% credit for qualified research expenses or a 14% alternative simplified credit." The House passed the bill by a vote of 378 to 46. The Senate later passed the bill and it was sent to the president, who signed it into law. [House Vote 544, 12/3/14; Congressional Quarterly, 12/2/14; Congressional Actions, H.R. 5771]
House GOP Leaders Had Sought To Make Several Of The Expired Deductions And Credits Permanent. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Instead, GOP leaders brought to the floor, and the House passed, a series of tax bills to make a handful of the extenders permanent, including a modified child tax credit indexed to inflation (HR 4935), a modified tuition tax credit (HR 3393), a group of charitable tax provisions (HR 4719), bonus depreciation that allows businesses to immediately write off 50% of property investments (HR 4718), Section 179 expensing rules that allow small businesses to deduct the cost of certain purchases (HR 4457), S-corporation rules that benefit small businesses (HR 4453), and a modified research and development tax credit (HR 4438)." [Congressional Quarterly, 12/2/14]
The Senate Finance Committee Proposed Extending All Provisions For Two Years. According to Congressional Quarterly, "The Senate Finance Committee, meanwhile, reported out legislation (S 2260) that would renew the extenders for an additional two years, through 2015." [Congressional Quarterly, 12/2/14]
November 2014: Senate Democrats Sought Deal With House GOP Leaders To Make Some Business Provisions Permanent And Extend Most Others Through 2015. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Senate Democratic leaders began negotiations with House Republicans on a potential deal on extenders that would renew most for two years and make a number of provisions permanent --- at an overall cost of more than $400 billion over 10 years." [Congressional Quarterly, 12/2/14]
White House Opposed Proposed Deal, Argued That The Tax Provisions It Would Have Made Permanent Disproportionately Favored Businesses As Opposed To The Working Class. According to The New York Times, "With negotiators nearing an accord on permanent tax breaks for businesses worth $440 billion over 10 years, President Obama rallied Democratic opposition on Tuesday and promised a veto. 'The president would veto the proposed deal because it would provide permanent tax breaks to help well-connected corporations while neglecting working families,' said Jennifer Friedman, a White House spokeswoman. [...] But Mr. Obama's threat showed that he could still wield his authority as well. White House officials said the package, intended to avoid letting a host of politically popular tax breaks expire at the end of the year, is too heavily tilted toward corporations and will have deep repercussions for budget and tax negotiations far into the future." [New York Times, 11/25/14]
New York Times: GOP Dropped Provisions Making Permanent An Expansion Of The Earned Income And Child Tax Credits As "Payback" For Obama's Immigration Executive Orders. According to The New York Times, "The emerging tax legislation would make permanent 10 provisions, including an expanded research and development tax credit, which businesses and the Obama administration have wanted to make permanent for years; a measure allowing small businesses to deduct virtually any investment; the deduction for state and local sales taxes; the American Opportunity Tax Credit for college costs; deductions for employer-provided mass transit; and four different breaks for corporate and charitable giving. [...] Left off were the two tax breaks valued most by liberal Democrats: a permanently expanded earned-income credit and a child tax credit for the working poor. Friday night, Republican negotiators announced they would exclude those measures as payback for the president's executive order on immigration, saying a surge of newly legalized workers would claim the credit, tax aides from both parties said." [New York Times, 11/25/14]
House GOP Leaders Then Pushed Issue To 2015 By Proposing This One-Year Tax Provision Extension Bill. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Upon their return from Thanksgiving recess this week, House leaders announced plans for a simple one-year tax extenders package --- which would require Congress to revisit the issue in 2015." [Congressional Quarterly, 12/2/14]