U.S. Representatives Drew Ferguson (R-GA) and Darin LaHood (R-IL), members of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced the Bringing Back American Jobs Through Intellectual Property Repatriation Act, which will remove obstacles within the tax code to incentivize American businesses to return valuable intellectual property to the United States.
This bill will support increased research and innovation domestically, and protect U.S. companies from the growing threat of intellectual property (IP) theft around the world. Representatives LaHood and Ferguson were joined by Reps. Adrian Smith (R-NE), Carol Miller (R-WV), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), and Randy Feenstra (R-IA) in introducing the legislation.
“America must incentivize strong and robust domestic supply chains while protecting our nation’s intellectual property,” said Rep. Ferguson. “This important bill provides the needed tax policies that encourage the return of jobs and manufacturing to the United States. I am proud to join Congressman LaHood and thank him for his work on this vital piece of legislation.”
“As Congress works to counter growing aggression from China, incentivizing the return of American IP through our tax code will strengthen our economic competitiveness on the global stage,” said Rep. LaHood. “The Bringing Back American Jobs Through Intellectual Property Repatriation Act will ensure that we remain the world’s leader in innovation, protect good American jobs, and strengthen our supply chains from growing global challenges.”
The Bringing Back American Jobs Through Intellectual Property Repatriation Act unlocks the door for increased IP repatriation with reasonable safeguards by:
- Allowing U.S. companies to bring back their IP developed offshore without any immediate U.S. tax cost.
- Continuing policy that that companies would still be subject to tax should they sell repatriated IP in the future.
- Ensuring that IP in fact returns to the United States (as opposed to simply being moved between different controlled foreign corporations (CFCs) of a U.S. company) by requiring the distribution back to the U.S. shareholder must be completed within 180 days of the first transfer between CFCs.
These changes will help U.S. businesses support domestic production and associated research and development, encourage more high-paying jobs in applied research and design, and discourage further migration of high-tech jobs outside the United States.
