As the House’s tax-writing committee gets set to discuss improvements to the tax code, the AIA will urge the Committee to preserve and extend the 179D energy efficient commercial building tax deduction.
The latest gossip coming from local tax insiders suggests that the House Ways and Means Committee hearing will touch on the dozens of tax provisions which are set to expire at the end of 2016, including the AIA-supported 179D deduction.
179D is one of 50 or so temporary tax provisions known as “extenders” that automatically expire every year. Congress ostensibly chose to make these provisions temporary in order to “test” their impact in the real world before making them permanent; the greater motivation, however, is that short-term extensions have a much smaller price tag, making it easier for lawmakers to justify the spending to their constituents.
Last year Congress renewed the extenders as usual, but also separated a small number of specific provisions – not including 179D – and made those permanent. Republicans in the House are now insisting that they will not pass another extenders bill to take care of the several provisions that, like 179D, were excluded from permanence.
To convey the importance of the 179D deduction, the AIA will be submitting a statement for the record and is continuing to work with the more than 100 members of an AIA-led coalition to ensure that 179D not be allowed to expire permanently.
Alex Ford, Manager, Federal Relations