Ben Waldron

Cofounder @ Spectrum & Pollinate. Always building something.

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

@James_M_South Twilio/Sendgrid with https://t.co/93hxVcF7az

[Garry Tan @garrytan]

Help restore the tax deduction for software dev in the US (Section 174)

https://t.co/9diaRGxxTI

[James Patrick Flanagan @PatrickFIanagan]

Payroll for engineers should not be penalized by the tax code. If you pay an engineer a salary, you should be able to deduct that salary just as you can the salary of a lawyer or accountant.

Seems obvious and yet!

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

@PatrickFIanagan @PatrickFIanagan do you think this assumes an as-is extension vs having some room for ammending this train wreck?

[James Patrick Flanagan @PatrickFIanagan]

@zetalyrae It's Section 174

[Jason Frueh @jfrueh]

@zetalyrae Section 174 of the tax code. How people are unaware of this yet is almost unbelievable.

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

This is the contribution to tech layoffs that no one is talking about. Sure AI and no more ZIRP are impacts to the big players but this is the reason for SMBs. #section174

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

@RepJasonSmith Please fix #section174, any small biz with R&D is getting killed and many are dying in infancy: https://t.co/EbpvyBbgnQ

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

@ajcvickers Best tweet ever and glad you are better.

[Gergely Orosz @GergelyOrosz]

Wall Street journal last week: "Tech jobs have dried up—and aren’t coming back soon"

@Pragmatic_Eng over a year ago: covering the same topic as it was happening

The job market continues to be tough, especially compared to the peak market of 2021-2022

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

He’s right. Most under-reported story in tech because only accountants, CFOs, and owners really understand how diabolical these changes in #section174 actually are.

[James Patrick Flanagan @PatrickFIanagan]

@ruima There’s a temptation to attribute the slowdown to something more interesting like AI or macro economic trends because those ideas are more intellectually stimulating than idiotic tax policy that was hacked together to game the CBO score of the TCJA, but that’s what happened.

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

@ajcvickers @shanselman apologies upfront, can someone from MSFT help here?

[James Patrick Flanagan @PatrickFIanagan]

Academic research about Section 174 is beginning to be published and it confirms what everyone in industry already knows: 174 is destroying American research and innovation.

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

@MikeCrapo Ha! Says the Senator that single handedly blocked the Family Tax Credit and the fix for businesses penalized by #section174. Country over party @MikeCrapo.

[James Patrick Flanagan @PatrickFIanagan]

Many of the scientists and engineers that American firms have laid off because of forced amortization have families, and layoffs are bad for families. Something to consider, @ChrisMurphyCT

[James Patrick Flanagan @PatrickFIanagan]

This should be a no-brainer for Republicans. Do they favor

✅ Pro-growth tax policy
✅ Pro-family child tax credits
✅ Ending fraud in the ERC program

Or do they care more about

❌ Mike Crapo's hurt feelings

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

Well, at least it’ll get to a vote! Perhaps A chance for Senators to vote common sense rather than party lines.

[Laura Weiss @LauraEWeiss16]

Still lots of GOP opposition to the Wyden-Smith tax bill, which will finally get a cloture vote in the Senate this week. Vote is expected to fail

But the bill still has some R backing. @SenToddYoung, who previously voiced his support, tells me he’ll still vote for the tax bill

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

@PatrickFIanagan I don’t understand that quote or quite frankly the overall increase at all. Why wouldn’t they take it before? We did amend prior years as to take more credit because these new rules shined a light on us being too conservative with R&D previously.

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

Big Tech is not killing innovation. The fact that US tax code, since 2022 in #section174, penalizes R&D. This means companies focus on quick, predictable wins vs. long term, riskier bets. You reap what you sow. https://t.co/TZrwCpiavY

[Ben Waldron @bwaldron]

Senator @RonWyden, can you give the public some indication of progress on #HR7024?