not necessarily misleading, but interesting none-the-less
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Lawmakers Aim for More Generous Tech Write-Offs
By Andy Sullivan Friday October 5 3:12 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Four U.S. lawmakers said on Friday that Congress should allow businesses to write off purchases of computers and other high-technology equipment on an accelerated basis as part of an economic-stimulus package.
Supporters in the House and Senate said Congress should reduce the time frame over which businesses can depreciate high-tech equipment like cellular phones and Internet servers.
The move would give America's high-tech sector a much-needed shot in the arm, they said, by encouraging businesses to spend more on new technology.
Current law requires businesses to spread out deductions on most high-tech purchases over five years.
While that time frame might have made sense when Congress last took a look at the issue in 1981, businesses are now replacing computers and communications equipment every year or two, said Rep. Jerry Weller, an Illinois Republican.
``Essentially our tax code discourages us from bringing the latest technology into the world,'' said Weller, sponsor of a bill that would allow firms to write off all high-tech purchases each year.
Weller was joined at a press conference by Michigan Republican Rep. Fred Upton, Texas Democratic Rep. Gene Green and Sen. Conrad Burns, a Montana Republican.
Upton and Green introduced a bill this week that would provide a two-year time depreciation schedule, while Burns supports a three-year time frame.
Upton downplayed the differences between the bills, saying all four were determined to get some sort of depreciation reform included in the $75 billion economic-stimulus bill.
``Whether it's one year, two years or three years, we're going to get something'' in the bill, which is expected to be finished by the end of October, Upton said.
As the economy has slowed over the past year, the high-tech sector has been especially hard hit. Tech firms have laid off 300,000 people since January, according to research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
Sales of computers and peripheral equipment fell 9.5 percent in the first half of 2001, according to the Information Technology Industry Council, marking the first time investment in technology has declined over a 12-month period since 1974. |
