Business Roundtable Statement on Senate Vote on Homebuyer Tax Credit, Five-Year NOL 'Carryback'.

WASHINGTON -- "We commend the Senate for voting to extend and expand the federal homebuyer tax credit. This critical program has already enabled hundreds of thousands of Americans to become first-time homebuyers. Encouraging additional home purchases will create a cascade effect, not only boosting the housing sector, but also creating jobs and hastening broad recovery of the U.S. economy - more than 20 percent of which is tied to residential real estate and housing-related industries.

"We also commend the Senate for expanding the five-year net operating loss 'carryback' period for all companies. This is critical tax relief that will allow companies to generate immediate cash by carrying back current-year losses to profitable years. In light of the current credit crunch, access to cash is critical to sustaining the current economy recovery. Companies will be able to use this money to invest in new plants and equipment, sustain research and development and maintain and create U.S. jobs.

"As we continue to work our way back toward sustained economic growth, it is vital that we balance the need for economic stimulus with fiscal prudence. The credit and NOL relief are timely, temporary and have already proven effective; in short, this is exactly the sort of stimulus measure we need to focus on.

"In particular, we would like to thank Sens. Isakson, Reid, Cardin and Dodd for their dedication to extending the homebuyer credit, and Sens. Reid, Baucus and Snowe for their commitment to extending the NOL 'carryback' period. We now urge the House to follow the Senate's lead in quickly passing this legislation and putting our economy on a path of sustained recovery," said Richard A. Smith, President and CEO of Realogy Corporation and Chair of Business Roundtable's Housing Working Group.

Please note: Richard A. Smith is available for media interviews regarding the extension and expansion of the Homebuyer Tax Credit. To schedule interviews, please contact Realogy Corporation's Mark Panus at [phone].

Business Roundtable is an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies with nearly $6 trillion in annual revenues and more than 12 million employees. Member companies comprise nearly a third of the total value of the U.S. stock markets and pay more than 60 percent of all corporate income taxes paid to the federal government. Annually, they return more than $167 billion in dividends to shareholders and the economy.

Business Roundtable companies give more than $7 billion a year in combined charitable contributions, representing nearly 60 percent of total corporate giving. They are technology innovation leaders, with more than $111 billion in annual research and development spending - nearly half of all total private R&D spending in the U.S.

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