Business Tax Provisions that Expired in 2016 (“Tax Extenders”)

Summary

Temporary tax provisions were last extended in the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015, signed into law as Division Q of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 (P.L. 114-113). Under this law, all tax provisions that had expired at the end of 2014 were retroactively extended. Among the business-related tax provisions, some were extended through 2016, some were extended through 2019, while others were made permanent.

This report briefly summarizes and discusses the economic impact of selected business-related tax provisions that expired at the end of 2016, including the following.

Special business investment (cost recovery) provisions:

Special Expensing Rules for Certain Film, Television, and Live Theatrical Productions

Seven-Year Recovery Period for Motorsports Entertainment Complexes

Three-Year Depreciation for Race Horses Two Years or Younger

Accelerated Depreciation for Business Property on an Indian Reservation

Election to Expense Advanced Mine Safety Equipment

Economic development provisions:

Empowerment Zone Tax Incentives

Qualified Zone Academy Bonds—Allocation of Bond Limitation

American Samoa Economic Development Credit

Other business-related provisions:

Credit for Certain Expenditures for Maintaining Railroad Tracks

Temporary Increase in Limit on Cover Over of Rum Excise Tax Revenues to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Deduction Allowable with Respect to Income Attributable to Domestic Production Activities in Puerto Rico

Indian Employment Tax Credit

Mine Rescue Team Training Credit

Special Rate for Qualified Timber Gains

This report does not include provisions that in the past have been classified as individual or energy-related. For a general overview of tax provisions that expired in 2016, see CRS Report R44677, Tax Provisions that Expired in 2016 (“Tax Extenders”), by Molly F. Sherlock.