BUSINESSES
Corporate Taxes
H.R. 1 calls for a 21-percent corporate tax rate beginning in 2018. The new law makes the new rate permanent. The maximum corporate tax rate currently tops out at 35 percent.
Although the current 2017 maximum corporate tax rate is 35 percent, many corporations now pay an effective tax rate that is considerably less.
Under the new law, the 80-percent and 70-percent dividends received deductions under current law are reduced to 65-percent and 50-percent, respectively. It also repeals the AMT on corporations.
The original House bill repealed the corporate AMT. The original Senate bill did not. The Conference Committee ultimately decided to follow the House version.
Bonus Depreciation
H.R. 1 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 new law raises the cap placed on depreciation write-offs of business-use vehicles. The new caps will 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 provision is effective for property placed in service after December 31, 2017, in taxable years ending after such date.
The limitations are indexed for inflation for passenger automobiles placed in service after 2018.
Section 179 Expensing
The new law enhances 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.
Although the differences between bonus depreciation and Code Sec. 179 expensing would now be narrowed if both offer 100-percent write-offs for new or used property, some advantages and disadvantages for each will remain. For example, Code Sec. 179 property is subject to recapture if business use of the property during a tax year falls to 50 percent or less; but Code Sec. 179 allows a taxpayer to elect to expense only particular qualifying assets within any asset class.
Deductions and Credits
Numerous business tax preferences are eliminated. These include the Code Sec. 199 domestic production activities deduction, non-real property like-kind exchanges, and more. Additionally, the rules for business meals are revised, as are the rules for the rehabilitation credit.
The new law leaves the research and development credit in place, but requires five-year amortization of research and development expenditures. It also creates a temporary credit for employers paying employees who are on family and medical leave.
Interest Deductions
The new law generally caps the deduction for net interest expenses at 30 percent of adjusted taxable income, among other criteria. Exceptions exist for small businesses, including an exemption for businesses with average gross receipts of $25 million or less.
This provision is an attempt to “level the playing field” between businesses that capitalize through equity and those that borrow.
Pass-Through Businesses
Currently, up to the end of 2017, 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.
For tax years after 2017 and before 2026, individuals would be allowed to deduct 20% of “qualified business income” from a partnership, S corporation, or sole proprietorships, as well as 20% of qualified real estate investment trust (REIT) dividends, qualified cooperative dividends, and qualified publicly traded partnership income. (Special rules would apply to specified agricultural or horticultural cooperatives.)
This deduction is also disallowed for individual taxpayers with taxable income in excess of $157,500, or $315,00 for joint filers, for pass-through income related to specified service trades or businesses.
For these purposes, “qualified business income” would mean the net amount of qualified items of income, gain, deduction, and loss with respect to the qualified trade or business of the taxpayer. These items must be effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States. They do not include specified investment-related income, deductions, or losses.
“Qualified business income” would not include an S corporation shareholder’s reasonable compensation, guaranteed payments, or — to the extent provided in regulations — payments to a partner who is acting in a capacity other than his or her capacity as a partner.
“Specified service trades or businesses” include any trade or business in the fields of accounting, health, law, consulting, athletics, financial services, brokerage services, or any business where the principal asset of the business is the reputation or skill of one or more of its employees.
For each qualified trade or business, the taxpayer is allowed to deduct 20% of the qualified business income with respect to such trade or business. Generally, the deduction is limited to 50% of the W-2 wages paid with respect to the business. Alternatively, capital-intensive businesses may yield a higher benefit under a rule that takes into consideration 25% of wages paid plus a portion of the business’s basis in its tangible assets. However, if the taxpayer’s income is below the threshold amount, the deductible amount for each qualified trade or business is equal to 20% of the qualified business income with respect to each respective trade or business.
Net Operating Losses
The new law modifies current rules for net operating losses (NOLs). Generally, NOLs will be limited to 80 percent of taxable income for losses arising in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017. It also denies the carryback for NOLs in most cases while providing for an indefinite carryforward, subject to the percentage limitation.
ENERGY
The original 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 new law 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 new law 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
H.R. 1 extends from nine months to two years the period for bringing a civil action for wrongful levy. The new law does not prohibit increases in IRS user fees, as proposed by the original Senate bill.
INTERNATIONAL
The new law moves the United States to a territorial system. It creates 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 are modified, as are the Subpart F rules. The look-through rule for related controlled foreign corporations are made permanent, among other changes.
Repatriation
A portion of deferred overseas-held earnings and profits (E&P) of subsidiaries will be taxed at a reduced rate of 15.5 percent for cash assets and 8 percent for illiquid assets. Foreign tax credit carryforwards will be fully available and foreign tax credits triggered by the deemed repatriation would be partially available to offset the U.S. tax.
The lower corporate tax rate may also provide an incentive for businesses to not shift operations overseas in the future.
GOP leaders in Congress have signaled that a technical corrections bill may be necessary in 2018 to “fix” drafting mistakes in H.R. 1. It is unclear at this time how extensive those technical corrections could be or if they could move under the reconciliation process and not require a super-majority for passage in the Senate.