A liberal group is urging lawmakers to let a lapsed tax provision for business expensing stay dead.
{mosads}The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities called bonus depreciation in a Thursday paper both too expensive and an ineffective way to stimulate the economy.
Bonus depreciation expired at the end of 2013, and lawmakers are negotiating whether to revive it as part of a so-called tax extenders package. House Republicans are seeking to extend some of the expired tax breaks — like bonus depreciation — for good.
Under bonus depreciation, companies can generally write off 50 percent of certain purchases in the first year.
In its new paper, the CBPP argues that bonus depreciation, which would cost roughly $276 billion over a decade, was always meant to be a temporary stimulus for the economy. The tax break was first enacted in 2002, and then brought back in 2008 after expiring.