The Senate Finance Committee is meeting today to mark-up the Expiring Provisions Improvement Reform and Efficiency (EXPIRE) Act, which is designed to extend certain tax provisions that either expired in 2013 or are set to expire at the end of 2014.
Of particular interest to readers are the proposals that would extend the temporary minimum 9% LIHTC credit rate to include allocations made prior to January 1, 2016 (estimated to cost $4 million over 10 years) and that would extend New Markets Tax Credit allocation authority for an additional two years (estimated to cost $1.8 billion over 10 years). Among other provisions, the bill would also extend the Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) program through 2015 with $400 million in bond volume (estimated to cost $251 million over 10 years), and extend the availability 50 percent bonus depreciation for “qualified property” (as defined in Section 168(k) of the Internal Revenue Code) purchased and placed in service before January 1, 2016 (before January 1, 2017 for certain longer-lived and transportation assets) (estimated to cost $2.85 billion over 10 years).
The Senate Finance Committee’s summary of the bill with cost estimates for each extension can be found here.
In contrast to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp’s tax reform proposal (discussed here in our March 24, 2014 blog post), passage of the Expire Act, as currently drafted, would be a clear-cut victory for advocates of tax credit financing. New Markets Tax Credit proponents in particular should have renewed hope after being left out of Chairman Camp’s proposal altogether.