Tax Legislation Update
Last week, the House passed a series of bills under the title “Jobs for America Act of 2014” that more or less represents a tax wish list of business owners, suppliers, and advisors. The full text of the bill can be found here.
Here are some the major components:
- Section 179 business expensing restored to $500,000 limit retroactive to the beginning of this year and made permanent
- 20% Bonus Depreciation restored retroactive to the beginning of the year and made permanent
- Repeal of the 2.3% medical device excise tax
- Research credit simplified and made permanent
- Full-time employee classification increased from 30 hours per week to 40 hours per week for the purpose of determining large employer classification under the employer health insurance mandate
While this is certainly good news, House passage represents only one step in the process. Enactment requires Senate passage and a Presidential signature, and that is unlikely to happen. Instead the Senate’s focus is on temporary, not permanent, tax extensions. So while the fate of these tax provisions remains up in the air, at least this bill provides us with some insight on what may happen – either on a temporary or permanent basis – after the November elections.
We will continue to keep you posted on any tax legislation updates.