Worth noting: the version of the Big Beautiful Bill passed by the House ends this particular change, starting in tax year 2025. We'll have to see if this provision makes it through the Senate, and in what form.
I do not like many things in BBB, but I am glad to know there is at least something in there that I can be glad for.
The better question is why the tech industry seemed to forget that the first Trump administration was terrible...
If the other party allows these cuts to expire, why wouldn't you blame that party?
Temporarily, for 5 years.
Now Trump second round fixes it, but expires in next (presumably) Democrat administration.
> tl;dr on Section 174, Research & Experimentation costs went from being fully deductible in the year incurred to being deductible over a 5 year period.
Larger tax bills and a tightening on what roles/activities are deductible as R&E are likely what OP is pointing at with his comment.
To the best of my non-inside baseball research, Section 174 changes were simply one part of a package of revenue generating measures to offset the large tax cuts from the broader tax act they were a part of.
The changes came from The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 that was introduced to the House of Representatives by Congressman Kevin Brady (R) Texas. The bill passed both houses of Congress along party lines. Then President Trump signed the bill into law. Section 174 changes did not take effect until 2021.
https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=heymijo&next=4332098...