Obama targets R&D credit

September 06, 2010|Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Seeking ways to spur economic growth, President Obama will ask Congress to increase and permanently extend research and development tax credits for businesses, a White House official said yesterday.

Obama will outline the $100 billion proposal during a speech Wednesday. The announcement is expected to be the first in a series of measures Obama will propose.

Obama will also ask Congress to extend one of the credit options available to businesses from 14 percent to 17 percent, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Obama has proposed making the research and development tax credit permanent before, as part of the budget he submitted to Congress earlier this year.

While the idea is popular in Congress, coming up with offsetting tax increases or spending cuts has been a stumbling block. Obama will ask lawmakers to close corporate tax breaks for multinational corporations and oil and gas companies.