R&D tax credit part of financial bailout bill

A two-year extension of the R&D tax credit goes to the White House for President George Bush's signature as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act that passed the House on Oct. 3 and the Senate on Oct. 1. Effective through the end of 2009, companies may take a credit of 20 percent of the amount by which their qualified research expenses in the taxable year exceed the base amount for that year. In addition, the alternative simplified credit is increased from 12 per cent to 14 percent for the 2009 tax year and the alternative incremental research credit is repealed for that period. The credit is estimated to be worth $19.1 billion to industry over 10 years