Support Small Business R & D Act of 2020

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3291 To amend the Small Business Act to expand tax credit education and training for small businesses that engage in research and development, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FEBRUARY 13, 2020 Mr. ROBERTS (for himself and Mr. COONS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship A BILL To amend the Small Business Act to expand tax credit education and training for small businesses that engage in research and development, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Support Small Busi- 4 ness R & D Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3291.IS S3291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3291 IS (1) the terms ‘‘Administration’’ and ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ mean the Small Business Administration 2 and the Administrator thereof, respectively; 3 (2) the term ‘‘Commissioner’’ means the Com- 4 missioner of Internal Revenue; 5 (3) the term ‘‘Export Assistance Center’’ has 6 the meaning given the term in section 22 of the 7 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 649); 8 (4) the term ‘‘small business concern’’ has the 9 meaning given the term in section 3 of the Small 10 Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632); 11 (5) the term ‘‘small business development cen- 12 ter’’ means a small business development center de- 13 scribed in section 21 of the Small Business Act (15 14 U.S.C. 648); 15 (6) the term ‘‘veterans’ business outreach cen- 16 ter’’ means a veterans’ business outreach center de- 17 scribed in section 32 of the Small Business Act (15 18 U.S.C. 657b); and 19 (7) the term ‘‘women’s business center’’ means 20 a women’s business center described in section 29 of 21 the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 656). 22 SEC. 3. SBA AND IRS PARTNERSHIPS. 23 Beginning not later than 180 days after the date of 24 enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3291.IS S3291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3291 IS with the Commissioner, shall develop partnership agree- 1 ments that— 2 (1) provide for the development of— 3 (A) basic training, including in-person or 4 modular training sessions, relating to Federal 5 income tax credits that benefit small business 6 concerns and startups, especially credits for re- 7 search and experimentation; and 8 (B) informational materials relating to 9 those credits, including Internal Revenue Serv- 10 ice guidance documents; 11 (2) provide the basic training and informational 12 materials developed under paragraph (1)— 13 (A) through electronic resources, including 14 internet-based webinars; and 15 (B) at physical locations, including small 16 business development centers; and 17 (3) make those materials available to— 18 (A) business development programs admin- 19 istered by the Administration, including wom- 20 en’s business centers, veterans’ business out- 21 reach centers, and Export Assistance Centers, 22 and nonprofit research partners such as the 23 Service Corps of Retired Executives authorized 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3291.IS S3291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3291 IS under section 8(b)(1)(B) of the Small Business 1 Act (15 U.S.C. 637(b)(1)(B)); and 2 (B) business development entities that 3 partner with programs administered by the Ad- 4 ministration, including universities, nonprofit 5 organizations, business incubators, and business 6 accelerators. 7 SEC. 4. REPORTING REQUIREMENT. 8 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 9 of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with the 10 Commissioner, shall submit to Congress a report describ- 11 ing how the Administration and the Internal Revenue 12 Service will— 13 (1) provide outreach and educational materials 14 to small business concerns, businesses of medium 15 size, and startups regarding section 41(h) of the In- 16 ternal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended by section 17 121 of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes 18 Act of 2015; and 19 (2) help and encourage tax advisors to educate 20 those businesses about the important amendments 21 made by such Act to section 41 of such Code. 22 SEC. 5. SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTERS. 23 Section 21(c)(3) of the Small Business Act (15 24 U.S.C. 648(c)(3)) is amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3291.IS S3291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3291 IS (1) in subparagraph (T), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 1 the end; 2 (2) in the first subparagraph designated as sub- 3 paragraph (U), by striking the period at the end and 4 inserting a semicolon; 5 (3) by redesignating the second subparagraph 6 designated as subparagraph (U) as subparagraph 7 (V); 8 (4) in subparagraph (V), as so redesignated, by 9 striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; 10 and 11 (5) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(W) in conjunction with the Internal Rev- 13 enue Service, providing informational materials, 14 education, and basic training— 15 ‘‘(i) to small business concerns relat- 16 ing to Federal income tax credits available 17 under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 18 including— 19 ‘‘(I) credits available to busi- 20 nesses generally; and 21 ‘‘(II) credits available to small 22 business concerns and startups spe- 23 cifically, especially credits for research 24 and experimentation; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3291.IS S3291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3291 IS ‘‘(ii) which may be delivered— 1 ‘‘(I) in person; or 2 ‘‘(II) through an internet 3 website.’’. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Feb 15, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3291.IS S3291 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS