”Piecemeal commitment” to supporting U.S. research and development...

"Piecemeal commitment” to supporting U.S. research and development is harming “global competitiveness and, ultimately, costing U.S. tech companies and the country,” said a study (http://bit.ly/1dud8X9) released by TechAmerica and accounting firm Grant Thornton Wednesday, said TechAmerica in a statement. “The R&D tax credit is a catalyst for the creation and retention of higher-paying jobs and is imperative to the United States’ ability to remain front and center in technological and other advances,” said Mel Schwarz, partner in Grant Thornton’s Washington national tax office, in the release. Of the 23 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development that use tax incentives to encourage research and development by businesses, the U.S. ranks 15th, said the release. “We created the R&D tax credit as a method to encourage forward thinking investment in the United States and now other countries are using our own innovation to beat us,” said Shawn Osborne, TechAmerica board chairman, in the release.