R&D Tax Credit Aspects of Human Body Weight
The average American male is now 194 pounds and the average
female is now 165 pounds. Compared to weight levels from 1960,
men are 28 pounds heavier on average, and women 24 pounds,
while at the same time neither gender is more than an inch and
a half taller . The disproportionate increase in U.S. human
body weight creates issues that are driving wide spread
innovation, ranging from major food processing changes to new
human-accommodating design requirements to patented and social
network software solutions. Many of these innovations are
potentially eligible for Federal and State R & D tax
credits.
The Research and
Development Tax Credit
Federally enacted in 1981, the R & D
tax credit allows a credit of up to 13% of eligible spend for
new and improved products and processes. Qualified research
must meet the following four criteria:
- New or improved products,
processes, or software
- Technological in nature
- Elimination of uncertainty
- Process of experimentation
Eligible costs include
employee wages, cost of supplies, cost of testing, contract
research expenses, and costs associated with obtaining a
patent.
Food Processing:
Reducing the Big Three Specified Ingredients
The big three food ingredients under the
microscope and targeted for reduction are sugar, fat and salt.
Food product choices are typically shaped by longstanding
habit and ingrained preference that one's favorite food
consistently tastes the same. One only has to remember the
major product blunder that occurred when Coke changed its
historical formula familiar to all Coke drinkers. Making
meaningful changes in core ingredients for food products is a
laboratory activity. The large food manufacturers have huge
contingents of chemists and other scientists, nutritionists
and technicians developing new and improved products. To
insure quality consistency, accurate labeling and safety the
new and improved products require enormous amounts of testing
and quality control.
On May 8th, 2012, the
Institute of Medicine, a well-respected, independent
organization that advises the Federal government on health
policy urged food companies to improve nutritional standards
for foods marketed to people under eighteen years old, further
recommending that mandatory standards be considered at all
levels of government if the companies do not adopt their own.
Transportation
Equipment
The new higher average American body
weight requires major changes to transportation equipment that
are primarily safety driven.
Not only must airplane
seats accommodate a larger human frame, they must protect
against the increased likeliness that a larger frame can
become a projectile upon impact, imperiling both the passenger
himself and those around him. "If a heavier person completely
fills a seat, the seat is not likely to behave as intended
during a crash" said Robert Salzar, the principal scientist at
the Center for Applied Biomechanics at the University of
Virginia. Salzar goes on to say that if a seat collapses or
belt fails, those seated nearby could be endangered from "the
unrestrained motion of the passenger."
For commercial passenger
and charter vessels, particularly smaller boats, total weight
and seat capacity has always been a key safety issue. For some
passenger boat services, the adverse economic impact of
reduced passenger volumes may put the viability of the entire
business into question. The U.S. Coast Guard has adjusted the
average weight computation to 185 pounds, which is 25 to 45
pounds heavier than the previous Coast Guard regulation. This
adjustment can result in a 30% top 40% passenger reduction.
Software
IBM has recently patented a new software system that tracks
eating habits and rewards corporate employees for improved
dietary well being . Health insurers, which already provide
discounts for employee health club attendance, are
contemplating recommending implementation of such a system to
lower employee medical costs and control network costs. A
variety of weight and dietary monitoring social media
applications have emerged. It is not to hard envisioning
enhancements to the IBM system diet/eating habits system
occurring from the new social network applications. The
current stock of roughly 13,000 apps accounted for $230
million in revenue in 2010 and is expected to increase 73% by
2015 . A social network app might measure calorie intake by
vision or sensors or restaurant menu bar code and
automatically provide the data feeds.
Architectural Design
Architecture, particularly for schools,
universities and urban design, is changing to encourage
occupants to walk more and substitute stairs for elevator
rides. As an example, the new building for Cooper Union, the
New York City school of science and art, uses an eccentric,
snaking staircase in lieu of a central elevator. This
"vertical campus" not only promotes better fitness, it also
fosters greater interdisciplinary collaboration, another major
goal in contemporary education. Rather than shoot directly to
an office, classroom or lab on one's intended floor, modern
design intends to cultivate greater opportunities, formal and
informal, for encounters across disciplines and work
departments.
Even in rural locales
such as Washington State University, similar principals are at
work. The new Lighty Student Services building showcases its
two main staircases from the outside of the building,
displaying them to visitors as they approach, in contrast to
the elevators which are occluded from view and thus
deemphasized. The stairs process 88% of traffic through this
four-story building.
Conclusion
American men and woman are larger and
heavier than ever. Both the private and public sectors
recognize this trend and its economic ramifications. All of
the infrastructure that supports us must continue to change
and innovate if we are to become safer at these new weight
levels, to say nothing of what must be done to reduce the
trend and return us to better health. Properly documented
R&D credits should and can be part of the new business
diet.
