March 30, 2023
The Honorable James Lankford
316 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Jodey Arrington
1107 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Dear Senator Lankford and Representative Arrington:
On behalf of the undersigned taxpayer, consumer, and free market advocates, we applaud you for introducing the Accelerate Long-term Investment Growth Now (ALIGN) Act, which would make permanent full and immediate expensing for American investments in machinery and equipment, also known as 100 percent bonus depreciation. Your efforts, if successful, would grow the U.S. economy and create jobs – especially in the country’s manufacturing sector.
As you know, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provided companies with the opportunity to fully and immediately expense their investments in short-lived assets that make the American workforce more productive, like machinery, equipment, and software. However, this 100 percent bonus depreciation was only in effect from 2018 through 2022, and starting this year is phasing down 20 percentage points per year. By 2027, there will be no bonus depreciation allowed for these investments at all.
Any allowance of bonus depreciation for tangible property in the federal tax code offers benefits for U.S. workers, companies, and the economy writ large. When businesses can more quickly recover the costs of assets that are eligible for bonus depreciation, they invest more in those assets. Bonus depreciation also reduces tax administrative burdens for companies by allowing the full and immediate deduction of expenses rather than requiring businesses to deduct those costs over several years. Tax Foundation estimated in November 2022 that making 100 percent bonus depreciation permanent would increase GDP by 0.4 percent, increase wages by 0.3 percent, and increase full-time equivalent employment by 73,000 jobs.1
Your legislation, the ALIGN Act, would make 100 percent bonus depreciation permanent, canceling the phasedown in bonus depreciation that begins this year. Similar legislation in the 117th Congress was supported by 17 senators2 and 123 representatives.3 Furthermore, some level of bonus depreciation for short-lived assets has been a feature of the tax code in 21 of the past 23 years – often gaining the support of both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.4 Republican presidential administrations and Democratic presidential administrations, including the Obama Treasury Department in 2010,5 have made the forceful case for the economic benefits of 100 percent bonus depreciation.
We believe that 100 percent bonus depreciation would accelerate economic growth, create American jobs, improve productivity, and grow wages. Thank you again for your thoughtful leadership on the vital issue of making 100 percent bonus depreciation permanent.
Sincerely,
National Taxpayers Union
60 Plus Association
American Consumer Institute
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Tax Reform
Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) Action
Center for a Free Economy
Institute for Liberty
Center for Freedom Consumer Action for a and Prosperity Freedom Strong Economy
Taxpayers Protection Alliance
Council for Citizens Against Government Waste
Independent Women’s Voice
CC: The Honorable Ron Wyden, Chair, Senate Committee on Finance
The Honorable Mike Crapo, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Finance
The Honorable Jason Smith, Chair, House Committee on Ways and Means
The Honorable Richard Neal, Ranking Member, House Committee on Ways and Means
1 Watson, Garrett; and Li, Huaqun. “Permanent 100 Percent Bonus Depreciation Even More Important When Inflation Is Elevated.” Tax Founda- tion, October 27, 2022. Retrieved from: https://taxfoundation.org/permanent-bonus-depreciation-inflation/ (Accessed March 21, 2023.)
2 Congress.gov. “S.1166 – ALIGN Act.” Introduced April 15, 2021. Retrieved from: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/1166 (Accessed March 21, 2023.)
3 Congress.gov. “H.R.2558 – Accelerate Long-term Investment Growth Now Act.” Introduced April 15, 2021. Retrieved from: https://www.con- gress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/2558 (Accessed March 21, 2023.)
4 Guenther, Gary. “The Section 179 and Section 168(k) Expensing Allowances: Current Law and Economic Effects.” Congressional Research Ser- vice, Updated May 1, 2018. Retrieved from: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/RL/RL31852 (Accessed March 21, 2023.)
5 U.S. Department of the Treasury. (October 29, 2010). “The Case for Temporary 100 Percent Expensing: Encouraging Business to Expand Now by Lowering the Cost of Investment.” Retrieved from: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/Report-Temporary-100percent-Expensing-2010.pdf (Accessed March 21, 2023.)