一群参议院民主党税务起草人周三表示，Meta可能正在滥用一项流行的商业税收优惠，并要求提供更多细节，以了解这家社交媒体巨头为何在其数据中心建设项目中申请研究补贴。立法者们在信中写道，他们想知道Meta（包括Facebook和Instagram）是否不当申请了该条款，该条款本应仅用于研究和实验技术，而非典型的商业支出。
A group of Senate Democratic tax writers said Wednesday that Meta may be abusing a popular business tax break, and are demanding more details of why the social media giant is claiming a research subsidy in conjunction with its construction of data centers. The lawmakers wrote they want to know whether Meta, which includes Facebook and Instagram, is improperly claiming the provision, which is supposed to be reserved for research and experimental technologies, not typical business expenses.
他们的信件是基于《纽约时报》最近的一份报告发出的，该报告称该公司通过使用该税收抵免将税负削减了数十亿美元。“联邦研究抵免可以是支持我国创新经济和前沿研究的有用且必要的工具，”参议员们在写给Meta首席执行官马克·扎克伯格的信中表示。“补贴您的人工智能数据中心建设远未达到这一标准。”他们补充道：“Meta将人工智能数据中心扩张作为符合研究抵免资格的任何尝试，可能构成对联邦税法的重大误用，值得进一步调查。”
Their letter was prompted by a recent report by the New York Times that the company has cut its tax liability by billions of dollars using the credit. “The federal research credit can be a useful and necessary tool to support our nation’s innovation economy and cutting-edge research,” the senators said in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “Subsidizing your A.I. data center build is not close to meeting this standard.”They added: “Any efforts by Meta to use A.I. data center expansion as eligible for research credits is potentially a significant misapplication of federal tax law that merits further investigation.”
该信由参议院税务撰写委员会首席民主党议员、参议员罗恩·怀登（D-俄勒冈州）及其在该委员会的六位同事签署。该信的签署者之一、佛蒙特州参议员彼得·韦尔奇上周曾单独致函美国国税局局长弗兰克·比西尼亚诺，要求税务机构提供有关Meta及其他主要科技公司如何使用研发税收抵免的信息。此事发生之际，数据中心已成为中期选举中的一个主要两党议题，广泛的选民对这些设施的反对声浪日益高涨。
The letter was signed by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the ranking Democrat on the tax-writing Finance Committee, and six of his colleagues on the panel. One of the letter’s signers, Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont, separately wrote last week to IRS CEO Frank Bisignano, asking the tax agency for information on how Meta and other major tech companies are using the R&E tax credit. It comes as data centers have emerged as a major bipartisan issue in the midterm elections amid widespread voter backlash against the facilities.
预算预测者表示，公司为人工智能基础设施建设所申请的税收优惠如今规模已足够大，以至于可能对联邦税收收入造成一定影响。税法长期以来一直包含对企业研发项目的补贴，这些补贴得到了两党议员的广泛支持。
Budget forecasters say tax breaks claimed by companies for the AI infrastructure buildout are now big enough to put a dent in federal tax receipts. The tax code has long included subsidies for corporate research and development programs, which have been broadly supported by lawmakers in both parties.
共和党加强了其2025年减税方案中的条款部分。Meta的一位发言人驳斥了这一批评。发言人安迪·斯通表示：“与传统数据中心不同，AI优化的数据中心本质上是全新的，需要进行大量的测试和实验，而这些无法通过模拟来完成，以确保设计和建造正确。”他补充道：“这正是国会在几十年前设立这些税收激励措施时所鼓励的那种国内投资。”
Republicans beefed up the provisions part of their 2025 tax cuts. A Meta spokesperson rejected the criticism. “Unlike traditional data centers, AI-optimized data centers are inherently new and require extensive testing and experimentation that cannot be simulated in order to get the design and build right,” the spokesperson, Andy Stone, said. “This is precisely the kind of domestic investment Congress encouraged when it established these tax incentives decades ago.”