american business estate and tax planning

american business estate and tax planning

How the New Tax Law Can Help Your Business: Two Tax Breaks for Businesses

Congress recently passed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. It's designed to inject $152 billion into the U.S economy. What does this mean to you?

If you own a business, your business can take advantage of two tax breaks: Increased Section 179 Amounts and Bonus Depreciation.

You could be one of the 130 million taxpayers who will receive a rebate check this year. For more on this tax relief topic, please see my recent article: "Is The IRS Sending You a Rebate Check? Find Out If You Are Eligible."

If you own real estate or invest in real estate, your may find some relief with your "jumbo" loans.

INCREASED SECTION 179 AMOUNTS:

Before the new law, a business could expense up to $128,000 of the cost of qualifying property in 2008. Under the new law, a business can expense up to $250,000 of the cost of qualifying property. This is a huge increase!

Even the phase-out limits are increased. Before the new law, if the cost of qualified property placed in service during the year was more than $510,000, the amount a business could expense was reduced (dollar for dollar) by the amount over $510,000. Under the new law, the dollar for dollar reduction still applies but the old $510,000 ceiling jumps to $800,000.

What property qualifies for the Section 179 Deduction?

The new law makes no changes to the general rules for the types of property that are eligible for Section 179 expensing. Generally, the property must be depreciable tangible personal property (so real property, such as land and buildings, does not qualify) that is actively used in the taxpayer's business. The property must be used more than 50 percent for business and must be newly purchased property.

BONUS DEPRECIATION:

The other incentive is bonus depreciation. The new law provides qualifying taxpayers 50 percent first-year bonus depreciation of the adjusted basis of qualifying property. Make sure you make the election on your tax return - it's required in order to claim the bonus depreciation.

What property qualifies for bonus depreciation?

To be eligible to claim bonus depreciation, property must be one of the following types of property:

- Eligible for the modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) with a depreciation period of 20 years or less (this includes most equipment, computers and furniture)

- Water utility property

- Computer software (off-the-shelf)

- Qualified leasehold property

The property generally must be purchased and placed in service during 2008. Original use of the property must begin with the taxpayer and must occur after December 31, 2007 and before January 1, 2009.

How is the luxury auto depreciation impacted?

Congress also increased the limitations on "luxury" auto depreciation. Ordinarily, the first-year limit on depreciation for passenger automobiles cannot exceed $3,060. However, this limit was increased when bonus depreciation was previously available to $4,600. The new law raises the cap once again, setting it at $11,060 for passenger autos and $11,260 for trucks and vans.

CAUTION! Be sure your business use of qualifying property stays above 50%. If it falls below 50% you may have to recapture some of the benefit previously claimed under Section 179 or the bonus depreciation.

WHAT DO THESE TAX BREAKS MEAN FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

These are very generous changes! These changes provide American businesses with an estimate $44 billion in additional deductions in 2008.

You will definitely want to plan your business purchases now. If you are planning on making equipment purchases in the next few years, now is the time to look out how moving those purchases to 2008 can cut your tax bill.

About the Author

Tom Wheelwright is not only the founder and CEO of Provision, but he is the creative force behind Provision Wealth Strategists. In addition to his management responsibilities, Tom likes to coach clients on wealth, business, and tax strategies. Along with his frequent seminars on such strategies, Tom is an adjunct professor in the Masters of Tax program at Arizona State University. For more information, please visit http://www.provisionwealth.com

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