Casey Was Joined By Regional Manufacturing Expert to Talk About Need to Focus On Small Business and Manufacturing / Senator Calls for Action on His Bipartisan Legislation That Would Help Small Businesses / Casey Pushed for End of Shutdown, Warned About Consequences of Default to PA Economy, Jobs
Pittsburgh PA- In the wake of a bipartisan deal to reopen the government and avoid default, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) called on Congress to immediately focus on jobs and end this era of manufactured crises. Casey discussed his bipartisan jobs bill, the Small Business Tax Certainty and Growth Act, and urged Congress to quickly take it up.
“The people of Pennsylvania and this nation deserve better than a government that careens from one manufactured crisis to the next,” Senator Casey said. “It’s time to put aside these distractions and focus on the work of creating jobs and spurring economic growth. I have a bipartisan jobs bill that builds on ideas both parties embrace to support small business. We should take it up immediately and get to work on the people’s business.”
The Small Business Tax Certainty and Growth Act would provide small businesses with the certainty they need to make long-range investment plans by making permanent the maximum allowable deduction under Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code. Section 179 allows small businesses to more rapidly deduct the cost of acquired assets. The amount of the maximum allowable deduction has changed three times in the past six years, and is usually addressed as a year-end “extender,” making this tax benefit unpredictable from year to year, and therefore difficult for small businesses to take full advantage of in their long-range planning. This bill would permanently set the maximum allowable deduction at $250,000, indexed for inflation, and ensure that only small businesses can avail themselves of the benefit by phasing it out as acquisitions exceed $800,000. The bill further encourages capital investment by extending, for one year, provisions that benefit businesses of all sizes: “bonus depreciation” and 15-year depreciation for improvements with respect to restaurants, retail facilities and leaseholds.
The bill also allows more companies to use the simpler cash method of accounting by permanently doubling the threshold at which the accrual method is required, from $5 million in gross receipts to $10 million, indexed for inflation. The bill also expands the ability to use more simplified methods of accounting for inventories, reducing complexity for small businesses that produce goods.
Finally, the bill would permanently double the deduction for business start-up expenses from $5,000 to $10,000. This would help ease the tax burden on new businesses. This provision is targeted to provide a benefit only to small businesses by phasing out the deduction as start-up expenses exceed $60,000.
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