Sen. Carper Joins Sens. Toomey, Menendez, Roberts to Help Small Business

WASHINGTON – Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) joined U.S. Senators Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) today to introduce a bill to reform our tax code to foster job creation and boost economic growth, while making it easier for small businesses, manufacturers, and family farms to comply with complicated tax rules. The four senators re-introduced the bipartisan Start Up Jobs and Innovation Act which will, among other things:

• Extend and expand tax incentives for small businesses that invest and grow in the U.S.  In particular, this bill permanently renews “Sec. 179 small business expensing” – making it easier for a business or farm to expand by allowing companies to deduct the first $500,000 in equipment purchases in the year the purchase is made.  Without this provision, businesses would only be allowed to deduct a small portion of certain costs in the first year, with the remaining amount deducted over a period of many years, making it more expensive and difficult for a company to grow.
• Make it easier for entrepreneurs to follow their dreams and start a new company.  This bill removes a tax barrier that makes it harder to create a business by doubling the amount of start-up costs entrepreneurs can deduct in the first year.  Currently, companies can only deduct the first $5,000 in start-up costs, and amounts above that have to be deducted over the course of 15 years.
• Simplify the tax code and provide much needed certainty for smaller businesses that cannot afford to hire an army of expensive tax attorneys to comply with the federal government’s convoluted tax regulations.
• Spur investment in potentially ground-breaking technology and medical research by modernizing out of date R&D partnership tax rules. 

“In my time as congressman, governor, and now senator, I have not created a single job,” said Sen. Carper.  “But small businesses around our country have created millions of jobs.  Our job in Congress is to foster the nurturing environment that allows these small businesses to get started, hire more workers, and help our economy grow. That’s why I’m proud to join this effort, led by Sens. Toomey and Menendez, that will remove more barriers for small businesses – from tech startups to family farms – and enable them to continue to be a positive force for job growth and our economy for years to come.”

“I started a chain of restaurants in Allentown in 1990 with two of my brothers,” said Sen. Toomey. “We used our own savings to fund the start-up costs and worked day and night and to create hundreds of jobs in the Allentown and Lancaster region. So I understand the unique struggles, uncertainties, and risks involved in starting one’s own business. We can make it easier to be innovative. I am pleased to join with Sens. Menendez, Roberts, and Carper to propose a bill that will do just that by freeing up money and time that small businesses could better use to re-invest and hire more workers.”

“I’m pleased to again introduce this bill because I believe that investing in our small businesses is the smart thing to do for our communities and our economy,” said Sen. Menendez. “Yet too often, our tax rules aren’t written with the understanding of the small business owner in mind. That’s why our bill will make it easier for small businesses to do their taxes, free up capital for investment and job creation, and allow small businesses to use the same tax preferences large firms have available for innovation.”

“I have long supported making the expensing provisions permanent,” Sen. Roberts said. “This is a very important issue for Kansas, for numerous industries, including agriculture and general aviation. The extension of the expensing rules will go a long way in returning jobs to Kansas, allowing firms to acquire and maintain a larger stock of equipment. The added capital would expand domestic production, raise productivity and wages, and increase employment.”

The Start-up Jobs and Innovation Act has a broad coalition of support.  The following groups have expressed their support for either the entire bill or important parts of it.

v  American Farm Bureau

v  Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO)

v  National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB)

v  National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)

v  Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association (PMA)

v  Pennsylvania Farm Bureau

v  Pennsylvania BIO

v  Coalition of Small Business Innovators

v  Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed)

v  TechVoice