McCain tech agenda calls for R&D tax break

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, favors a 10 percent tax credit for wage-earners involved in technology research and development, according to today's Wall Street Journal.

McCain, who is expected to release his technology agenda today on his campaign Web site, favors expanding the H1-B visa program that would allow more foreign technology workers to find employment in the United States, the Journal said. McCain also remains opposed to taxing Internet transactions and congressional involvement in writing rules for the Internet.

A McCain campaign aide told the newspaper the employee tax credit would be an incentive for technology companies to hire local workers rather than outsource the work abroad.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), McCain's presumptive Democratic presidential opponent, unveiled his technology program last November. It called for a national chief technology officer, more government documents available online and subsidies to low-income Internet users in rural areas where telephone connections are costly and difficult to establish.