Congress quietly expands $25B semiconductor tax credit with no job guarantees

What it does

This bill expands a federal tax credit for advanced manufacturing to include semiconductor design work performed in the U.S. Companies can now claim a 25% tax credit on wages, supplies, and contracted design services for semiconductor development conducted domestically, with the credit available through 2036. The credit applies to both in-house design teams and outsourced design work, as long as the design relates to improving semiconductor function, performance, or reliability—not cosmetic changes or post-production modifications.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is a 25% federal tax credit on semiconductor design expenditures, structured as a direct reduction in corporate tax liability. This is a tax expenditure—foregone federal revenue—benefiting private semiconductor design firms and contractors, not a regulatory reform or public investment.

What the text implies

• The credit applies to contract design expenses at 100%, meaning companies can outsource design work to any vendor (including foreign-owned firms operating U.S. subsidiaries) and claim the full credit, potentially subsidizing offshore design centers with U.S. tax dollars.
• The 'startup venture' carve-out in subsection (4) allows pre-revenue companies to claim the credit even if they have no active trade or business, lowering the bar for eligibility and increasing subsidy capture by venture-backed design startups.
• The credit does not require job creation, wage floors, or domestic hiring—only that design work occur in the U.S. A company could automate design, reduce headcount, and still claim the credit on remaining wages and contracted services.
• Coordination with the R&D credit (section 41) prevents double-dipping but also obscures the total subsidy: design work may qualify under both credits in different years or for different entities, fragmenting transparency on total tax expenditure.
• The 2036 sunset is a standard tax-credit expiration, but the 11-year window locks in a long-term revenue loss without requiring Congress to revisit the credit's effectiveness or public return.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

This bill provides a direct tax subsidy to semiconductor design companies and their contractors, reducing federal revenue without a clear public benefit or return. While semiconductor manufacturing has national security value, the credit is a corporate tax giveaway that shifts the cost to ordinary taxpayers and the general treasury, with no requirement that the credit produce jobs, lower consumer prices, or deliver measurable public goods.

Who stands to gain

• semiconductor design firms (Qualcomm, Broadcom, AMD, Nvidia, Intel design divisions)
• semiconductor design service providers and contractors
• venture-backed semiconductor startups
• contract design and engineering firms serving the semiconductor industry

Named in the bill

Internal Revenue Code Section 48D (advanced manufacturing investment credit), Internal Revenue Code Section 41 (research and development credit), U.S. semiconductor design industry, Qualcomm, Broadcom, AMD, Nvidia, Intel

Where it stands

28 cosponsors: 22 Democrats, 6 Republicans.

• Jan 28, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jan 28, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

13 lobbying clients named this bill on 17 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $4,604,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 3 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 94% of bills with at least one filing.

Blake Moore, the sponsor, reported $1,475,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle. $2,000 of that came from 1 PAC tied to these lobbying clients.

• Qualcomm Incorporated — $1,170,000 on 1 filing
• Semiconductor Industry Association — $880,000 on 2 filings
• Texas Instruments Incorporated — $654,000 on 2 filings
• Synopsys, Inc. — $600,000 on 2 filings
• Semi — $470,000 on 1 filing

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.