Some Tax Extenders are now Permanent.

From Accounting Today.



"Congressional leaders unveiled a wide-ranging deal on tax extenders, making some items permanent.

The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 is a culmination of recent work done in both chambers of Congress and renews and makes permanent important tax incentives that support both individuals and job creators. Among the provisions that would be made permanent are the enhanced Child Tax Credit, the enhanced American Opportunity Tax Credit, the enhanced Earned Income Tax Credit, the above-the-line deduction for teachers who buy school supplies, the charitable deduction of contributions of real property for conservation purposes, along with the Research & Development Tax Credit and Section 179 expensing.

The permanent R&D Tax Credit provision permanently extends the research & development tax credit and, for the first time, allows for eligible small businesses to claim the credit against the alternative minimum tax liability or against the employer’s payroll tax liability. The Section 179 provision permanently extends the small business expensing limitation and phase-out amounts in effect from 2010 to 2014; and sets a new threshold at $500,000 and $2 million, respectively, from the current amounts of $25,000 and $200,000, respectively. 


Also made permanent by the legislation are the tax break for mass transit and parking benefits, and the option to claim an itemized deduction for state and local general sales taxes in lieu of a deduction for state and local income taxes.
In addition, the legislation suspends the 2.3 percent excise tax on medical devices through 2017 and delays for two years the so-called "Cadillac tax" on high-priced health insurance plans that was supposed to begin in 2018. It also phases out bonus depreciation. Another provision permanently extends the exception from subpart F income for active financing income. The legislation also permanently extends the rule reducing to five years (rather than 10 years) the period for which an S corporation must hold its assets following conversion from a C corporation to avoid the tax on built-in gains.
Another provision permanently extends the ability of individuals at least 70½ years of age to exclude from gross income qualified charitable distributions from Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) of up to $100,000 per taxpayer in any tax year."


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