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CONGRESS REACHES AN AGREEMENT ON AN OMNIBUS BILL
- By: Shannon Davison
- On: 12/17/2015 09:56:14
- In: Press Releases
Yesterday, leadership of both the House and Senate announced an agreement on an omnibus bill which funds the government until October of 2016 and extends several expiring tax provisions.
Yesterday, leadership of both the House and Senate announced an agreement on an omnibus bill which funds the government until October of 2016 and extends several expiring tax provisions. Congress is expected to pass this bill as early as tomorrow. Passage of this legislation would avoid having to retroactively reauthorize many expired tax provisions next year, saving time and effort for companies, including many TRALA members, which rely on some of these provisions.
The tax package which will be a part of this large omnibus bill makes several expiring tax provisions permanent, while extending other provisions through 2019. TRALA was pleased to see Section 179 expensing made permanent at $500,000 and $2,000,000 as well as indexing these levels to inflation. TRALA had worked with many of its allies urging Congress to include this provision in a final bill. Another key tax issue for TRALA members is the rule for S-Corporations - which requires them to hold on to assets for 10 years to avoid paying a tax on built-in gains - was changed by reducing that time to only five years and it was made permanent. Additionally, Congress extends the use of Bonus Depreciation through 2019 with a 50% depreciation for 2015-2017 and then a reduction in that level to 40% in 2018 and 30% in 2019.
The omnibus spending bill included several policy riders which had been stalled in Congress but made their way into the final legislation. Unfortunately, TRALA-supported provisions regarding joint-employers and a proposed rule from the Department of Labor on the expansion of overtime pay were not included. That said, the omnibus did include language requiring FMCSA to establish a safety and health standard for truckers before they can re-establish rules for Hours-of-Service restarts.
You may view the full bill by clicking here. If you have any questions regarding this omnibus bill or the tax provisions impacted, please contact Andrew Stasiowski at astasiowski@trala.org or call (703)299-9120.