On July 21, the Senate Finance Committee approved the extenders bill. This bill includes the extension of 52 tax provisions that usually get extended each year. It includes reinstating the section 179 expense amount back to $500,000 and also includes the 50% bonus depreciation. Will this bill become law? The answer is maybe. And while we don’t know when this could happen, the good news is Congress is working on this extenders bill early in the year. Tax Tip Tuesday will be

“What is the current status of Code Section 179 for the calendar year of 2015?” That is the question that I have been asked multiple times in recent weeks. As of right now, the Section 179 limit for 2015 is $25,000. That’s dramatically lower than in 2014 when it was $500,000. Will this be increased this year? I think it will. But, to what level, I don’t know for sure. Many members of Congress have talked about raising this. But one issue that keeps coming up, as well as with

We have an important tax law update for you. In this special edition of Tax Tip Tuesday, we will address the tax package that the Senate passed last night. The president is expected to sign this legislation. In the recently enacted “Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014” Congress has once again extended a package of expired or expiring individual, business, and energy provisions known as “extenders.” The extenders are a varied assortment of more than 50 individual and business

Today we have an update in regards to some end of year-end tax legislation. The House has passed a bill that would extend 55 different provisions that expired at the end of 2013 through the end of 2014. This includes the $500,000 Section 179 limit, 50% bonus depreciation and individual provisions like the exclusion for IRA donations for charity and the deduction for educator expenses. The Senate has not indicated when or if they will vote on this bill. Hopefully it will be

We are continuing our discussion from last week on year-end tax planning challenges. Businesses that have benefited from the generous $500,000 Code Sec. 179 expensing limit for tangible personal property (and certain software) for the past few years may be in for a shock this year. Starting with the 2014 tax year, unless Congress makes a retroactive change, the maximum annual Code Sec. 179 expensing limit drops precipitously to $25,000. The dollar limit on the phaseout o

Today we are continuing to look at year-end tax planning as it relates to purchases of equipment and this week we are examining qualified real property expensing. This may be the last year that a unique combination of tax breaks is available for these three categories of real estate assets: Qualified leasehold improvement property Qualified restaurant property Qualified retail improvement property If you are thinking about making improvements, the time to act is now. Make sur

Today and next week we will continue to look at year-end tax planning as it relates to purchases of equipment. An expanding and strengthening economy may mean that December 31, 2013 will be the end of the line for some stimulus-type tax breaks. Last week we talked about how this affects Code Sec. 179 expensing limits. This week we will look at bonus depreciation for 2013. Under current law, a 50% bonus first-year depreciation allowance applies to qualified property acquired a

Today and in the next two weeks we will take a look at year-end tax planning as it relates to purchases of equipment. An expanding and strengthening economy may mean that December, 31, 2013 will be the end of the line for some stimulus-type tax breaks. Unless Congress acts, 50% bonus depreciation generally won't be available for property placed in service after this year. Also slated for disappearance is the 15-year write-off and special expensing allowance for qualified leas

The IRS announced that they will begin processing tax returns that contain Form 4562 for Depreciation and Amortization starting February 10th. This is earlier than expected. They also announced they will start processing returns containing Form 8863 Education Credits starting on February 14th. This form is used to claim two higher education tax credits – the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit. They also indicated that all remaining forms that th

Retroactively effective for tax years beginning in 2012, the new tax act increases the maximum expensing amount under Code Section 179 from $139,000 to $500,000. Effective for tax years beginning in 2013, the tax act increases the maximum expensing amount under Code Section 179 from $25,000 to $500,000. The tax act also increases the phase-out amount to $2 million. For tax years beginning after 2013, the maximum expensing amount is scheduled to drop to $25,000. The retroactiv