{"id":22141,"date":"2016-10-27T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-27T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/path-act-expands-and-protects-tax-benefits-for-small-businesses\/"},"modified":"2024-02-19T11:23:29","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T17:23:29","slug":"path-act-tax-benefits-for-small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"newsroom","link":"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/small-business\/path-act-tax-benefits-for-small-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"PATH Act expands and protects tax benefits for small businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-summary\">Summary<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"text_summary\">\n<ul>\n<li>This continues the H&amp;R Block newsroom\u2019s series on the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, which made dozens of changes to the tax code. The PATH Act series covers its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/path-act-new-permanent-taxable-benefits\/\">permanent extensions of many tax benefits<\/a>, the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/itin-holders-required-to-renew\/\">renewal requirements for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs)<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/path-act-enforces-new-rules\/\">eligibility changes for certain tax credits<\/a>,&nbsp;its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-law-and-policy\/path-act-tax-savings-and-benefits\/\">expansion&nbsp;of other tax benefits<\/a>, its&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/newsroom\/irs\/tax-responsibilities\/tax-penalty-costly-for-filing-mistakes-due-to-path-act\/\">increasing cost of making mistakes<\/a>, its impact on small business and its delay of millions of refunds until February 15.<\/li>\n<li>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/media-kit\/path-act-tax-impact\/\">PATH Act tax impact<\/a>&nbsp;resource guide provides information to help media and consumers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Taxpayers who run a small business or are starting a new business have some more stability this year \u2013 at least as far as their tax returns go. Because of permanent changes the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act made to the tax code, small businesses have some added certainty around those tax benefits and tax planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-small-businesses-and-startups-get-a-permanent-and-improved-research-credit\">Small businesses and startups get a permanent and improved research credit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The research credit has been up in the air, expiring and being renewed dozens of times. The PATH Act not only made it permanent, but expanded it so more small businesses will be able to claim it. Beginning in 2016, eligible small businesses can claim the credit against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/credits\/credit-for-prior-year-minimum-tax\/\">Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT)<\/a>. Small start-ups can claim the credit against their portion of the payroll tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe research credit is a valuable credit for businesses that invest in research. But businesses without a taxable income \u2013 a common situation for a lot of new businesses and startups \u2013 could not qualify,\u201d said Kathy Pickering, executive director and vice president of The Tax Institute at H&amp;R Block. \u201cThe PATH Act makes this credit available for more business owners and entrepreneurs, especially of smaller and younger businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-businesses-can-count-on-quickly-depreciating-and-expensing-property\">Businesses can count on quickly depreciating and expensing property<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Ordinarily, the cost of business property is allocated and deducted over several years under&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/adjustments-and-deductions\/tax-depreciation\/\">depreciation guidelines<\/a>. However, several provisions have allowed businesses to write off some or all of the cost of property more quickly. But because these provisions have continuously expired and then been renewed, it hasn\u2019t always been easy for business owners to plan to take advantage of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The PATH Act extends bonus (or, first-year) depreciation through 2019 and makes 15-year depreciation for qualified leasehold improvement property, qualified restaurant property and qualified retail improvement property permanent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Businesses may also choose to deduct a portion of the cost of qualifying property \u2013 which the PATH Act permanently sets at $500,000 \u2013 rather than depreciating it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe limits and phase-out thresholds for expensing, rather than depreciating, qualifying property costs have changed over the years. Permanently setting these will help businesses plan their capital expenditures,\u201d said Pickering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-switching-from-a-c-corporation-to-an-s-corporation-won-t-necessarily-mean-built-in-gains-tax\">Switching from a C corporation to an S corporation won\u2019t necessarily mean built-in gains tax<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blockadvisors.com\/resource-center\/small-business-owners\/llc-vs-c-corp\/\">C corporation<\/a> that elects to become an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blockadvisors.com\/resource-center\/small-business-owners\/business-entity-101\/\">S corporation<\/a> pays a 35% built-in gains tax on all undistributed gains when assets are sold or disposed of by the S corporation during a certain period of time. However, by waiting a predetermined length of time, the gains can escape built-in gains taxation. This timeframe was originally 10 years but was reduced to seven years in 2009 and then to five years in 2011. The PATH Act made the five-year timeframe permanent, after which the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blockadvisors.com\/resource-center\/manage-your-business\/s-corp-filing-guide\/\">S corporation<\/a> can avoid the 35% tax on gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe small business tax benefits that the PATH Act made permanent, expanded or extended can make tax planning more certain for small business owners \u2013 but only so far as they are familiar with them and know how to use them effectively,\u201d said Pickering. \u201cThe tax landscape has changed for small business owners, so it is more important than ever for them to talk with a small business tax professional.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Summary This continues the H&amp;R Block newsroom\u2019s series on the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, which made dozens of changes to the tax code. The PATH Act series covers its&nbsp;permanent extensions of many tax benefits, the&nbsp;renewal requirements for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs),&nbsp;eligibility changes for certain tax credits,&nbsp;its&nbsp;expansion&nbsp;of other tax benefits, its&nbsp;increasing cost [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":26874,"menu_order":0,"template":"","tags":[7320],"news-categories":[23340],"class_list":["post-22141","newsroom","type-newsroom","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-path-act","news-categories-small-business"],"acf":{"post_rest_thumbnail_alt_id":""},"yoast_head":"<title>PATH Act tax benefits for small businesses | H&amp;R Block Newsroom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Taxpayers who run or are starting a small business have some added certainty around tax benefits and planning due to permanent PATH Act changes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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