Estes pushes for passage of bill to restore immediate R&D expensing

Bipartisan legislation restoring immediate expensing for research and development (R&D) must be passed, said U.S. Rep. Ron Estes (R-KS) on Jan. 11 during a special order speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We know that where R&D occurs, jobs and economic opportunities follow,” Rep. Estes said. “The time to address R&D amortization was by the end of 2021; the next best time is now. We need to pass R&D immediate expensing for the American people and our U.S. economy.”

During his remarks, the congressman called for passage of the American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act, H.R. 2673, which he sponsored on April 18, 2023, with 65 original cosponsors, including lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. John Larson (D-CT), to restore the deduction for research and experimental expenditures.

H.R. 2673 would eliminate the five-year amortization requirement for R&D experimental expenditures, thus allowing continued expensing of such expenditures in the taxable years in which they are incurred, according to the congressional record bill summary.

The bill currently has 213 cosponsors and remains under consideration in the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee.  

The measure has been endorsed by the National Taxpayers Union, the Aerospace Industries Association, the Semiconductor Industry Association, the Plastics Industry Association, the Information Technology Industry Council, and the National Association of Manufacturers, among other supporters.

Last month, Rep. Estes explained how his bipartisan bill offers a solution to the expired R&D expensing provision that would help restore America’s dominance in R&D and secure American jobs.

“We should immediately pass this common-sense legislation,” Rep. Estes wrote in an op-ed published in the Dec. 11, 2023 issue of Newsweek. “Then, we should continue to push for more of the TCJA [Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017] policies that benefited taxpayers, families, small businesses, the economy and even the U.S. Treasury. The time to address R&D amortization was by the end of 2021 — the next best time is now.”