Today the U.S. House of Representatives debated H.R. 4, the Jobs for America Act. Among addressing multiple issues, the bill would make permanent Section 179 small business expensing, 50 percent expensing, and repeal the medical device tax. Each of these provisions would move the taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. code in the right direction.
Section 179
For a business, profits are revenue minus costs. However, this is not how the tax code defines profits. When it comes to investment in capital (the tools that people use), the tax code requires businesses to write off these costs over years or decades. Due to inflation and the time value of money, businesses end up not being able to recover the full cost of these investments. This overstates business profits and understates business costs.
Section 179 helps correct for this by moving pass-through businesses closer to full expensing. The provision allows businesses to expense up to $500,000 in capital investments rather than depreciating them over time. This helps makes the tax code more neutral by limiting biases against capital investment.
50 Percent Expensing
Commonly called bonus depreciationBonus depreciation allows firms to deduct a larger portion of certain “short-lived” investments in new or improved technology, equipment, or buildings in the first year. Allowing businesses to write off more investments partially alleviates a bias in the tax code and incentivizes companies to invest more, which, in the long run, raises worker productivity, boosts wages, and creates more jobs. , 50 percent expensing allows all businesses to deduct 50 percent of their investments in equipment and software in the year they are purchased before depreciating the remaining costs. The provision moves cost recovery towards full expensingFull expensing allows businesses to immediately deduct the full cost of certain investments in new or improved technology, equipment, or buildings. It alleviates a bias in the tax code and incentivizes companies to invest more, which, in the long run, raises worker productivity, boosts wages, and creates more jobs. , which helps mitigate the tax code’s bias against capital investment.
If made permanent, we find that bonus depreciation would grow the economy by over 1 percent, boost wages by about 1 percent, and create over 200,000 jobs. Additionally, it would boost federal revenue by about $23 billion a year in the long run due to increased economic activity.
The Medical Device Tax
The medical device tax is a 2.3 percent excise taxAn excise tax is a tax imposed on a specific good or activity. Excise taxes are commonly levied on cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, soda, gasoline, insurance premiums, amusement activities, and betting, and typically make up a relatively small and volatile portion of state and local and, to a lesser extent, federal tax collections. on the sale of qualifying medical devices. According to our previous research, the medical device tax has the ability to “create distortions in the medical device industry, likely leading to higher health care prices for consumer, lower employment, and less innovation. Additionally, the tax is complex and creates additional compliance costs for firms.”
In addition, recent reports show that the complex medical device tax is bringing in 25 percent less revenue than projected and creating compliance issues for taxpayers.
Share this article