Sweeping Tax Reform Proposals Creating Suspense for CRE Investors
Federal Tax Code Changes Ranging From Eliminating Long-Term Depreciation to Taxing Carried Interest at a Higher Rate Could Hold Dramatic Implications for CRE Industry
January 11, 2017 | by Randyl Drummer | CoStar
With President-elect Donald J. Trump preparing to take office next week and the Republican-controlled 115th Congress already in session, the newly reconstituted House Ways and Means Committee met for the first time this week to discuss the GOP’s tax reform “blueprint” released last summer calling for sweeping changes to federal tax law.
The Real Estate Roundtable and other industry lobbying groups have been working with Ways and Means committee staff since last fall to convert the House tax reform blueprint into legislation that can be introduced early this year. The plan would significantly lower income tax rates for corporations, pass-through entities and investors while possibly bringing major changes to how real estate investments are taxed.
The blueprint would replace current depreciation rules with immediate and full expensing of capital investment in commercial buildings, excluding land. To recover federal revenue lost under the change, the plan proposes to eliminate deductions such as net interest expense.