BUSINESSES
Corporate Taxes
The Conference Committee version of H.R. 1 calls for a 21-percent corporate tax rate beginning in 2018. The Conference bill makes the new rate permanent. The maximum corporate tax rate currently tops out at 35 percent.
Bonus Depreciation
The Conference bill increases the 50-percent “bonus depreciation” allowance to 100 percent for property placed in service after September 27, 2017, and before January 1, 2023 (January 1, 2024, for longer production period property and certain aircraft). A 20-percent phase-down schedule would then kick in. It also removes the requirement that the original use of qualified property must commence with the taxpayer, thus allowing bonus depreciation on the purchase of used property.
The bonus depreciation rate has fluctuated wildly over the last 15 years, from as low as zero percent to as high as 100 percent. It is often seen as a means to incentivize business growth and job creation.
Vehicle Depreciation
The Conference bill would raise the cap placed on depreciation write-offs of business-use vehicles. The new caps would be $10,000 for the first year a vehicle is placed in service (up from a current level of $3,160); $16,000 for the second year (up from $5,100); $9,600 for the third year (up from $3,050); and $5,760 for each subsequent year (up from $1,875) until costs are fully recovered. The new, higher limits apply to vehicles placed in service after December 31, 2017, and for which additional first-year depreciation under Code Sec. 168(k) is not claimed.
Section 179 Expensing
The Conference bill would also enhance Code Sec. 179 expensing. The Conference bill sets the Code Sec. 179 dollar limitation at $1 million and the investment limitation at $2.5 million.
Deductions and Credits
Numerous business tax preferences would be eliminated under the Conference version of H.R. 1. These include the Code Sec. 199 domestic production activities deduction, non-real property like-kind exchanges, and more. Additionally, the rules for business meals would be revised, as would the rules for the rehabilitation credit.
The Conference bill leaves the research and development credit in place, but requires five-year amortization of research and development expenditures. The Conference bill also creates a temporary credit for employers paying employees who are on family and medical leave.
Interest Deductions
The Conference bill generally caps the deduction for net interest expenses at 30 percent of adjusted taxable income, among other criteria. Exceptions would exist for small businesses, including an exemption for businesses with average gross receipts of $25 million or less.
Pass-Through Businesses
Currently, owners of partnerships, S corporations, and sole proprietorships – as “pass-through” entities – pay tax at the individual rates, with the highest rate at 39.6 percent. The House bill proposed a 25-percent tax rate for certain pass-through income after 2017, with a nine-percent rate for certain small businesses. The Senate bill generally would have allowed a temporary deduction in an amount equal to 23 percent of qualified income of pass-through entities, subject to a number of limitations and qualifications.
The Conference bill generally follows the Senate’s approach to the tax treatment of pass-through income, but with some changes, including a reduction in the percentage of the deduction allowable under the provision to 20 percent (not 23 percent), a reduction in the threshold amount above which both the limitation on specified service businesses and the wage limit are phased in, and a modification in the wage limit applicable to taxpayers with taxable income above certain threshold amounts.
Net Operating Losses
The Conference Committee version of H.R. 1 modifies current rules for net operating losses (NOLs). Generally, NOLs would be limited to 80 percent of taxable income for losses arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017. The Conference bill also denies the carryback for NOLs in most cases while providing for an indefinite carryforward, subject to the percentage limitation.
ENERGY
The House bill called for repealing many current energy tax incentives, including the credit for plug-in electric vehicles. Other energy tax preferences, such as the residential energy efficient property credit, would have been modified. The Conference bill retains the credit for plug-in electric vehicles and did not adopt any of the other repeals of or modifications to energy credits from the House bill.
EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS
The Conference bill does not modify or repeal the so-called “Johnson amendment.” This provision generally restricts Code Sec. 501(c)(3) organizations from political campaign activity.
IRS ADMINISTRATION
The Conference bill would extend from nine months to two years the period for bringing a civil action for wrongful levy. The Conference bill does not prohibit increases in IRS user fees, as proposed by the Senate bill.
INTERNATIONAL
The Conference Committee version of H.R. 1 follows the lead of both the House and Senate bills in moving the United States to a territorial system. The Conference bill would create a dividend-exemption system for taxing U.S. corporations on the foreign earnings of their foreign subsidiaries when the earnings are distributed. The foreign tax credit rules would be modified, as would the Subpart F rules. The look-through rule for related controlled foreign corporations would be made permanent, among other changes.
Repatriation
A portion of deferred overseas-held earnings and profits (E&P) of subsidiaries would be taxed at a reduced rate of 15.5 percent for cash assets and 8 percent for illiquid assets. Foreign tax credit carryforwards would be fully available and foreign tax credits triggered by the deemed repatriation would be partially available to offset the U.S. tax.