From NTRA
LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 1, 2019) – Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced bipartisan tax and disaster relief legislation on Thursday, February 28, that includes three-year depreciation for racehorses. Under the proposed package, three-year racehorse depreciation would be retroactive for 2018, continue through 2019 and grant taxpayers the option to depreciate all racehorses over a three-year period.
Three-year racehorse depreciation was most recently available to the industry in 2017 but Congress did not renew it for 2018 as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) passed in December 2017. The TCJA did include 100% bonus depreciation and a $1 million Sec. 179 expense allowance for qualified depreciable property, two important investment incentives that lessened the need for three-year depreciation in many cases. However, three-year depreciation continues to be a beneficial option for many racehorse owners, especially racing partnerships with multiple passive owners, as it better aligns deductions with corresponding income opportunities on an annual basis.
The NTRA federal legislative team will pursue passage of three-year depreciation as part of this tax extenders legislation as we have done since its original inclusion in the 2008 Farm Bill.