On August 22, 2018, a broad coalition of associations and companies sent a letter urging the Treasury Department to resolve errors in last year’s tax law affecting the retail and restaurant industries.
As the massive tax law was being drafted last year, lawmakers mistakenly denied businesses making interior renovations immediate full expensing. While the intent was to allow businesses to immediately write off the cost of certain business improvements, including store renovations, the tax law’s new definition of “qualified improvement property” would force companies to deduct those costs over periods as long as 39 years. Another error in the law prevents businesses with fiscal 2017 years ending in 2018 from carrying back net operating losses from that tax year.
“The delay in correcting these provisions has caused economic hardship for some retailers, restaurants, members of the real estate industry, and suppliers of building products, and is also delaying investments across the economy that impact the communities in which these companies are doing business,” the letter said.
The nearly 330 business groups that co-signed the letter include the National Retail Federation (NRF), the National Restaurant Association (NRA) and the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), among others.
Last week, Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee also urged the Treasury Department to issue guidance that reflects congressional intent behind the net operating loss deduction and qualified improvement property expensing.
This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.