Multi-association Letter in Support of Expanded Expensing for Business Improvements

SIA led a group of eight industry associations in urging the House and Senate tax writing committees to ensure that business expensing reforms in the final version of the tax overhaul under consideration include all of the property categories identified in the Senate version of the bill – roofs, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC), fire protection and alarm systems, and security systems.

Under current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations, customers must capitalize the cost of security and life safety systems over the 39-year depreciation life for buildings.  The change proposed in the Senate bill, and earlier in S. 1144, the INVEST Act (Sen. John Thune, R-South Dakota), would allow small and medium sized business to deduct the total cost as a business expense in the year they are incurred (up to certain dollar limits), removing a significant tax disincentive to making adopting new and more effective technologies.

The letter was issued Nov. 16, 2017, to Chairman Hatch, Ranking Member Wyden, Chairman Brady and Ranking Member Neal, and was co-signed by the Security Industry Association (SIA), along with National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA), National Systems Contractors Association (NSCA), Electronic Security Association (ESA), Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), Polyisocyanurate Insulation Manufacturers Association (PIMA), Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors—National Association (PHCC), and Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI).