(January 31, 2024) On behalf of more than 3,500 firms engaged in sheet metal and air conditioning construction, Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association (SMACNA) applauds passage of H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for America’s Families and Workers Act, an essential piece of legislation that extends and reforms the R&D credit, bonus depreciation and equipment expensing.
Our contractors have seen an historic demand to purchase expensive but highly productive new equipment to meet project demands, due to the rapid expansion of mega projects following the bipartisan infrastructure law, CHIPS and Science Act and other IRA related private sector tax incentives for energy efficient retrofits. The bipartisan support and passage of the bill, which renews and extends the 100% bonus depreciation and 179 equipment expensing reform, is necessary due to the robust and record setting growth of the construction, CHIPS, energy efficiency and manufacturing industries over the last two years.
I am thankful to all those who played a role in the successful negotiations, including House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.), Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and the many members of our industry who have helped Congress understand the extreme importance of these incentives to allowing our firms to maximize productivity with a highly trained workforce operating highly complex and exceptionally expensive equipment.
At a time when our firms are working on and bidding the largest projects in the nation, we are now in a stronger position to overcome operational obstacles due to the lapse or reduced value of three key provisions in the tax code directly impacting purchases of advanced technological equipment. These critical tax incentives are of vital importance to the nation’s building and construction industry today and in the future:
- Retroactive Extension of the 100% Bonus Depreciation – Restores the 100% bonus depreciation for qualified property, instead of the current 20% annual phase down that went into effect on January 1, 2023.
- Retroactive Extension and Permanence for 174 Research and Development Expenditures - Allows companies to immediately deduct R&D expenses instead of amortizing over five years.
- Expand Section 179 expensing and interest deductibility for small businesses—Increases the maximum eligible amount of investment and extend the point at which the benefit phases out.
“On behalf of the 3,500 Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Construction firms SMACNA represents, I applaud the bipartisan passage of the Tax Relief for America’s Families and Workers Act, which extends and reforms vital tax incentives that support the historic demand on our industry to purchase expensive, productive new equipment needed to build a strong infrastructure that meets the nation’s needs now and into the future.”
-Aaron Hilger, CEO, SMACNA
ABOUT SMACNA:
SMACNA is an international trade association representing 3,500 contributing contractor firms and is a leader in promoting quality and excellence in the sheet metal and air conditioning industry. SMACNA members are responsible for effectively delivering the clean air Americans breathe in offices, homes, and hospitals; for many of the attractive facades you see on today’s stadiums and office buildings; and for the comfortable, healthy, and safe living environments in which our citizens live out their daily lives. SMACNA has national offices in Chantilly, Va., outside of Washington, D.C., and on Capitol Hill. For more information, visit www.SMACNA.org.
