The House of Representatives has tentatively scheduled a vote on AGC-supported bipartisan tax legislation next week.

The House of Representatives has tentatively scheduled a vote on AGC-supported bipartisan tax legislation next week. On January 19, the House Committee on Ways and Means overwhelmingly voted to “favorably report” the legislation by 40-3, signaling broad bipartisan support for the legislation. As a result, the bill could be voted on under “suspension of the rules,” which requires two-thirds of the House of Representatives to support the bill for passage.

Announced last week by Chairmen of the Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, Jason Smith and Ron Wyden, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act would address a number of AGC tax priorities that are currently affecting the construction industry, including:

• Rolling back a provision that forces construction firms to amortize their research and development expenses over five years, rather than writing them off in the year they are incurred;
• Reinstating full expensing for new and used business equipment by allowing construction firms to fully deduct those expenses in the year the equipment is placed in service;
• Simplifying tax preparation by increasing the threshold at which businesses have to issue certain informational tax returns (1099’s) to independent contractors, from $600 to $1000.

While AGC has some concerns about how this legislation is “paid for” by prematurely ending the Employee Retention Tax Credit at the end of January, on balance we believe this would be a net positive for the industry.

If you have any questions, please contact Matthew Turkstra at [email protected], or (202) 547-4733.