AGREE Act

Bill: 112-s-1866
Sponsor: Sen. Coons, Christopher A. [D-DE]
Introduced: 2011-11-15 in the Senate
Policy area: Taxation
Subjects: Accounting and auditing
Administrative law and regulatory procedures
Asia
Business investment and capital
Capital gains tax
China
Computers and information technology
Corporate finance and management
Customs enforcement
Foreign labor
Fraud offenses and financial crimes
Government information and archives
Government studies and investigations
Income tax credits
Income tax deductions
Income tax exclusion
Inflation and prices
Intellectual property
Manufacturing
Research and development
Retail and wholesale trades
Securities
Small business
Veterans' education, employment, rehabilitation
Veterans' organizations and recognition
Visas and passports

Summary:
action_date: 2011-11-15
text: 
American Growth, Recovery, Empowerment, and Entrepreneurship Act or the AGREE Act - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to extend certain tax expenditure provisions for business taxpayers, including: (1) bonus depreciation and expensing of business and investment assets, (2) the 100% exclusion from gross income of gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock, and (3) the tax credit for increasing research expenses.
 
Increases to 20% the rate of the alternative simplified research tax credit and makes such credit permanent. Increases the research tax credit for the research expenses of manufacturers whose domestic production gross receipts exceed 50% of their total production gross receipts. 
 
Allows a business-related tax credit of up to $100,000 for 25% of the franchise fees paid or incurred by a veteran for the purchase of a franchise.
 
Amends the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to exempt certain small issuers of securities from the internal control reporting and assessment requirements of such Act.
 
Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to: (1) eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, and (2) increase the per country numerical limitation for family based immigrants from 7% to 15% of the total number of family-sponsored visas. 
 
Amends the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 to eliminate the provision requiring the reduction of annual People's Republic of China immigrant visas to offset status adjustments under such Act.
 
Sets forth a transition period for employment-based immigrant visas and per country distribution rules for reserved and unreserved visas.
 
Authorizes the Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) to share information and provide: (1) unredacted samples of the products, packaging, and labels, or related photos with trademark right holders if United States Customs and Border Protection suspects an import or export violation under specified provisions of the Lanham Act relating to copied or simulated marks or names; and (2) samples to affected parties upon the seizure of material imported in violation of specified federal copyright laws prohibiting the circumvention of technological measures that control access to or protect a copyrighted work.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2011-11-16
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S7594-7596)
action_date: 2011-11-15
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2011-11-15
text: Introduced in Senate