SMACNA Advocates
Supports small business investment expensing incentives for businesses seeking to make their facilities more energy efficient, safe and operationally competitive; Thereby, boosting retrofit and renovation activity in the commercial and hospitality sectors of the economy and related businesses supporting those industries.
SMACNA Policy References
Energy Efficiency, Sustainability, and Green Buildings; Federal Incentives for Solar Technologies and Energy Efficiency
Description
H.R. 1869 would remedy an important oversight and drafting error in last year’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That bill, later enacted into law, made significant changes to the federal tax code, including allowing businesses to immediately write off costs associated with improving facilities instead of having to write off those expenses over 15 years. However, an inadvertent drafting error required restaurants, retailers, and other leaseholders to instead write those expenses off over a much longer period of 40 years, resulting in cost-prohibitive renovation projects and stalled investments. H.R. 1869, the Restoring Investments in Improvements Act – would ensure the full cost of store, office, or building improvements could be immediately expensed as was originally intended by law. The Joint Committee on Taxation has concluded that this legislation would have no impact on the federal budget deficit. Further, H.R. 1869 would remove tax barriers to many different types of business investments, allowing businesses to save money by deducting the cost of certain investments under a provision known as “100 percent bonus depreciation.”
Current Status
Introduced by Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-CA-20), H.R. 1869 now has 260 bipartisan cosponsors and awaits action in the Committee on Ways and Means. A companion bill, S. 803, has been introduced in the Senate and has 56 cosponsors while pending action in the Senate Finance Committee.
