If I can only deduct 200k of the 1m I spent that inflates my net profits by 800k that I dont actually have, because I spent it on what I thought was an expense.
It changes what is considered a deductible expense.
Profits = Revenue net Costs
Taxes are a cost. Taxes are defined as some rate t, tax = t * (Revenue net Deductible Expenses)
So Profits = Revenue - t * (Revenue - Deductible Expense) - Non-deductible Expense
Percent of t is small relative to the value of 100% applied to non-deductible expense. What this has done is to take salary, deployment infra, everything, from Deductible to Non-deductible expense, leaving 20% of what was there before. That is very large.
If you make $2,000,000 gross, spend $800,000 on operating expenses, and $1,000,000 on R&D, you practically have $200,000 profit; but you have pay $210,000 in federal tax on $1,000,000.