As Chair of the U.S. Innovation Tax Team, Rep. Ron Estes (R-Kansas) led a delegation with House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Missouri) and Tax Team Vice Chair Michelle Steel (R-California) to Silicon Valley on Sept. 12 and 13 to meet with U.S. innovators and stakeholders about the upcoming Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) expirations. Rep. Estes hosted two roundtables with small San Francisco Bay area startups and met with Genentech, Apple, Wisk Aero, Google, Intel, and the Silicon Valley Tax Directors Group.
Each group and organization shared the common theme of the importance of renewing common sense, pro-growth tax policies that encourage U.S. innovation. Many also shared the very real concern about ceding leadership in innovation to foreign adversaries and the challenge of intellectual property (IP) theft. The team heard directly how TCJA helped these organizations and startups advance innovations and bring back IP while also contributing more to the U.S. Treasury through taxes.
"Americans are innovators, and seeing the incredible tech advances in Silicon Valley from large and small organizations is a reminder why we need a tax code that encourages innovation right here in the United States," said Rep. Estes. "Many of the pro-growth tax policies that spur innovation are bipartisan, such as immediate R&D expensing, and should be embraced by all members of the House. Keeping research, development and innovation within our borders is something that Republicans and Democrats from red, blue and purple states should champion as we near the expiration of some TCJA policies next year. The folks our tax team talked to understand that we are competing globally for R&D, and that if the United States doesn't renew and expand critical innovation policies, jobs, manufacturing and cutting edge technologies will grow elsewhere."
"As Vice President Harris is proposing a $7 trillion tax hike, Ways and Means Republicans are hard at work finding ways to build on the success of the Trump Tax Cuts that created higher wages, more jobs, and greater benefits for working families," said Chairman Smith. "So far, our Tax Teams have held more than 90 events across 17 states to hear from workers, families, and innovators about the importance of extending the Trump Tax Cuts to help deliver real relief from the Biden-Harris economy while growing jobs and investment here at home. I want to thank our Innovation Tax Team Chair Representative Ron Estes and Vice Chair Michelle Steel for leading this important visit so we could get a firsthand look at how our tax code can better support innovation and the millions of American workers in this sector."
"America's entrepreneurs and especially startups are hurting from the lapse of innovation-supporting tax policies," said Rep. Steel. "They rely on full expensing of research and development to create jobs and economic growth. On the Ways and Means Committee, we will keep working on making improvements to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to incentivize more research, more investment, and more job growth.
Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith named Rep. Ron Estes Chair of the U.S. Innovation Tax Team in April of this year, one of 10 tax teams to address the tax code before 2025. Since then, the tax teams have hosted more than 90 events in 17 states to hear from everyday American citizens and organizations impacted firsthand by the tax code. Rep. Estes has hosted roundtables and discussions with stakeholders, including visits in Kansas in August. As the representative of the Air Capital of the World and a manufacturing hub in south central Kansas, Rep. Estes has pushed for fairer tax policies that would encourage domestic R&D.
