In 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) to deliver meaningful tax reform. But a little-known provision that was ignored far too long has created an existential threat to millions of American businesses and the families that rely on them.

Prior to the TCJA, businesses could deduct their “research and experimentation” (R&E) expenses incurred throughout the year as ordinary expenses. For growth-oriented organizations, these account for the vast majority of expenditures, including major line items such as payroll and infrastructure.

But beginning Jan. 1, 2022, companies were prohibited from deducting these normal operating expenses in the year they’re incurred, thanks to a change in Section 174 of the tax code established by the TCJA. Instead, businesses must now spread out their deduction over a five-year period for domestic expenditures and a 15-year period for foreign expenses. Irrespective of profitability, companies will now be taxed as though they have potentially significant income commensurate with their R&E spending.

Compounding the problem, companies must also pay estimated tax payments on this “phantom income” throughout the year, not simply at year’s end. This leaves countless startups and small businesses without the necessary cash to pay employees, cover expenses, and develop new or enhance existing products.

Through delayed deduction, Section 174 effectively imposes a new, regressive federal penalty to innovate. This innovation penalty will cost companies $0.925 for every $1 spent in the United States over the next five years that they’ll never get back — just for the privilege of innovating. For example, a business dedicating $100,000 to innovation in the U.S. will pay $92,500 to the IRS. Meanwhile, companies using foreign talent, as is common in tech startups, will send $2.775 to the IRS for every $1 they spend — nearly three times as much as their actual capital investment.

With the IRS website surprisingly silent on Section 174, the federal government has seemingly made few efforts to educate the millions of U.S. businesses about this expensing overhaul, so this news will certainly be an unwelcome surprise for innovators and investors who remain largely unaware of it with only forty-five days left to file taxes.

This radical change is especially perilous for cash-strapped, smaller companies that operate at a loss or barely break even, choosing instead to invest in creating the products of the future as the market demands. Facing unanticipated tax bills, many companies will find it hard, if not impossible, to remain in business at all. Cash flow failure at some level is the primary reason companies fail. Section 174, in its current form, substantially compounds cash flow pressure as a regressive tax, disproportionately harming smaller businesses that are least able to survive it.

Our medical technology company learned this the hard way this year. We prioritize innovation and growth and thus aim to break even at year-end. After investing heavily in our people and expecting a $0 tax liability but instead being told we owed hundreds of thousands of dollars, I discovered this provision’s ruthless impact. My experience is certainly not unique, and many have it even worse.

Since innovation is the main driver of long-term economic growth, bolstering job creation and ensuring our global competitiveness, we need to encourage innovation, not penalize it. Consider that China’s new tax policies allow a 75 to 100% deduction of all innovation expenses. Regressive tax policies such as Section 174 will stifle homegrown innovation to the detriment of every American and impair our global competitiveness.

This can only be fixed through legislative action. So as the final tax deadline, September 15, quickly approaches, bipartisan action in Congress and from the White House is needed to prevent an economic disaster of inestimable scale that, if not thwarted, would threaten the American startup culture that has long been the envy of the world. After all, economic stability and growth are not partisan issues.

People from across the political spectrum build, create, and innovate. They come from all walks of life. And I’m certain that every lawmaker in Congress represents many small business owners who have put it all on the line to pursue their dreams. In doing so, they employ others and contribute to their local communities.

With 33 million small businesses, including at least 1 million startups, employing nearly half of all employees throughout both red and blue districts across the country, lawmakers from both sides should work to pass a solution to this critical problem. At the very least, they should pass an emergency package for smaller companies who can’t absorb the cost before Sept. 15th.

In an era of bitter partisanship and political gamesmanship, the strength of our economy and the welfare of all Americans hinge in part on lawmakers uniting to fix Section 174 before it catalyzes an economic disaster.

Michael Blackstone is the CEO and founder of SutureHealth, a medical technology company. He started Americans for Innovation , a grassroots effort to reform Section 174.