September 23, 2004 Washington, DC -- The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) today hailed the inclusion of an 18-month extension of the Research and Development (R&D) tax credit in a tax extenders conference report approved yesterday.  In a letter to Congressional leaders, ITI President Rhett Dawson said ITI anticipates scoring the vote on final passage of the bill in the group's High Tech Voting Guide for the 108^th Congress.

"Research and development is the lifeblood of the technology industry so we are pleased that a seamless R&D extension has been added to this bill," said Dawson.  "We look forward to working with Congress to expand the R&D credit so that more U.S. companies can stay on the leading edge of technological innovation and competitiveness."

 

Only R&D work performed in the U.S. may qualify for the credit and over 75 percent of credit dollars are derived from wages paid to employees.  Extending and expanding the R&D credit is a key element of ITI's High Tech Growth Agenda.  

 

The House and Senate may vote on the measure as early as today and the bill could be sent to the President’s desk for his signature very soon.

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) represents the leading U.S. providers of information technology (IT) products and services. ITI is the voice of the high tech community, advocating policies that foster U.S. economic growth and job creation by advancing U.S. leadership in technology and innovation; expanding market access for IT products; protecting consumer privacy and choice; promoting e-commerce; and enhancing the global competitiveness of its member companies.

ITI member companies include Accenture, Agilent Technologies, Apple, Applied Materials, Canon U.S.A., Cisco, Corning, Dell, Eastman Kodak, eBay, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, IBM, Intel, Lexmark, Microsoft, National Semiconductor, NCR, Oracle, Panasonic, SAP, Sony Electronics, Sun Microsystems, Symbol Technologies, Tektronix, Time Warner, and Unisys. For more information, contact Shannon Feaster at sfeaster@itic.org.

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