5 Outrageous Tax Breaks Congress Is Preparing for Special Interests

I do support some of the extensions, like the educator expense adjustment, for teachers who spend their own money on material for their classes.

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/11/30/5-Outrageous-Tax-Breaks-Congress-Preparing-Special-Interests

By Eric Pianin
November 30, 2015

n the next few weeks, lawmakers and the Obama administration will be wrestling with decisions on the fate of 55 or so highly obscure but often extraordinarily costly tax breaks that lapsed at the end of 2014 and must be reauthorized retroactively for the 2015 tax year.

None of the measures are part of the permanent federal tax code and therefore must be renewed every year or two. For that reason, they are called tax “extenders,” although they could be viewed more colorfully and perhaps more accurately as generous gifts in wrapping paper under the Christmas tree. Here are five of the most outrageous tax extenders on the agenda this year:

1. A break for NASCAR track owners. Owners of NASCAR tracks and other “motorsports entertainment complexes” may write off the cost of facilities on their taxes over seven years, instead of the standard 39 years for nonresidential property and 15 years for “improvements,” such as roads. •••••

2. Extension of some racehorses’ classification as 3-year property. The 2008 farm bill temporarily cut the cost recovery period from seven years to three years for racehorses that begin training when they’re older than two. This provision extends this recovery period to all racehorses despite a U.S. Treasury study that determined racehorses have an economic life of nine years when including post-career breeding and resale value. •••••

3. Breaks for film and TV productions. The law allows filmmakers the option of deducting significant costs for most productions. •••••

4. Research and development tax credit. This tax credit, which has an extraordinarily broad definition of “research,” generally goes to larger corporations. Some critics say that the tax credit rewards companies for doing work they would have done anyway.
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5. Rum excise tax revenues in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. ... The provision’s main beneficiaries? The liquor companies Diageo and Bacardi.