In the push to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by the end of 2017, the tax writers made a few drafting errors that will require a “technical correction.” One correction that affects the commercial real estate industry is a provision on Qualified Improvement Property (QIP).  QIP is generally the improvements to the interiors of existing nonresidential buildings, and used to be known as “restaurant, retail, and leasehold” improvement property.
In previous years, Congress – with broad bipartisan support – reduced the depreciation period for QIP from 39 years to 15 years. AGC also strongly supported this effort. The provision was extended on a temporary basis for many years until it became permanent in 2015.
Unfortunately, due to a pure drafting error in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the depreciation schedule for QIP was accidentally increased from 15 years back to 39 years.  AGC recently called on Congress to fix this mistake, and is working with an ad hoc coalition of affected groups to get this fixed as soon as possible.
For more information contact Matthew Turkstra at [email protected], or (202) 547-4733.