[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 56 (Thursday, April 2, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S4385]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. Baucus, Mr. Hatch, Ms. Stabenow, 
        Mr. Ensign, Mrs. Lincoln, Ms. Cantwell, and Mr. Nelson of 
        Florida):
  S. 823. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow a 
5-year carryback of operating losses, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Finance.
  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, America's economy is continuing in 
recession. Companies that have been profitable for years are finding 
their balance sheets awash in red ink. The economic stimulus bill, the 
American Recover and Reinvestment Act or ``ARRA,'' helped some small 
companies with a provision that allows them to take losses from 2008 
and carry them back for up to five years rather than carry them forward 
for up to 20 or back only two. This net operating loss, NOL, carryback 
provision gives formerly profitable companies the ability to get a 
quick infusion of cash by recouping taxes paid when they were 
profitable in the recent past.
  The cash from a 5 year carryback of NOLs allows companies to keep 
employees on payroll, and stabilize operations during the most trying 
time businesses have faced in at least a generation. The House and 
Senate and the Obama Administration all acknowledged the importance of 
permitting NOL carrybacks during the debate on the economic stimulus 
with provisions that generally allowed any company to carryback losses 
incurred in 2008 and 2009. Unfortunately, the final agreement on that 
law did not contain the sweeping provision that is necessary to help as 
many companies as are in need of this tax relief.
  Companies are permitted to take these losses against future income, 
for up to 20 years from now. However, that carryforward of losses does 
nothing to help companies weather the current recession in fact some of 
these companies might never be able to take these losses because 
they'll go out of business as a result of this recession. Permitting 
carryback of losses will help to prevent employees from being laid off 
today as a result of the credit crunch that continues to exacerbate the 
downward spiral of our economy. We can help lessen the credit crunch 
and increase cash flow in companies by permitting companies to 
carryback losses for 5 years.
  Today I am honored to introduce the NOL Carryback Act with the 
chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Max Baucus, and a 
distinguished group of colleagues from the Finance Committee. This bill 
mirrors the Senate-passed NOL carryback provision that was passed in 
ARRA. The Senate-passed bill allowed carrybacks for losses incurred in 
2008 and 2009, for any sized business, but it prevented companies that 
receive cash from the Troubled Asset Relief Program from also receiving 
this cash infusion.
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