It’s a big day for S corporations! Earlier today, the House voted to adopt HR 4453, the S Corporation Permanent Relief Act of 2014, by a count of 263 to 155. The bill, sponsored by Representatives Dave Reichert (R-WA) and Ron Kind (D-WI) makes permanent the five year built-in gains holding period, and contains a basis adjustment fix for charitable contributions made by S corporations.
These S corporation provisions received strong bipartisan support. All but two Republicans supported the measure, while forty-two Democrats parted with their leadership and the Administration and voted yes. Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp kicked off the day by offering these remarks on the House floor:
The bill we have before us today is the right step forward to level the playing field between the small businesses on Main Street and big businesses. If a small business chooses to operate as an S corporation for tax purposes, we should ensure that they have the ability to access certain capital without tax penalties.
…This is a bipartisan, commonsense bill that will give small businesses some much needed relief from the burdens of the tax code, and allow them to make new investments and create new jobs.
Washington State Congressman and S-Corp ally Dave Reichert had this to say:
The BIG tax is a double tax on S corporations who want to sell their assets after converting from C corporation status.
…As we’ve heard from Jim Redpath…who testified before one of our Ways and Means hearings…the BIG tax causes S corporations to hold onto unproductive or old assets that should be replaced. He gave the example of a road contractor which is holding onto old equipment that is sitting in the junkyard…because if he sold them, they would be subject to the BIG, double tax.
Instead of selling the assets and using the proceeds to hire new workers or invest in new equipment, the business owners sit on the sidelines. This is a perfect example of the tax code influencing business decisions and needs to stop.
Opposition focused on the fact that the legislation included no offset. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the bill would cost $2.1 billion over ten years. The Democrats offered a motion to recommit – also lacking an offset – that would have extended the two provisions for two years only. This “no offset” argument also was at the heart of the veto threat articulated by the White House yesterday.
We strongly disagree with these concerns. JCT may score tax legislation on a current law basis but taxpayers, including business owners, live in a current policy world. Offsetting the cost of extending tax rules these businesses already use, and have used for years, makes little sense. Moreover, as the motion to recommit demonstrates, many of those opposed to making these provisions permanent were willing to incur the revenue loss of extending them temporarily. What is the difference between voting once to extend these items without an offset, and doing so repeatedly every year or two?
As far as next steps, the tax world now shifts it gaze to the Senate side, where new Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) are working out how to best move forward on their extenders package, which includes two year extensions of these to S corporation provisions. Our best guess is we will have to wait until after the November elections before we see further movement on these items, but that doesn’t detract from the success of the day and it certainly won’t prevent us from continuing to press these issues when we’re up on the Senate side!