Washington — The House approved separate bills in late July that would extend a tax break for small businesses and would expand eligibility for the Form 1040 EZ tax form.
House members voted unanimously in favor of the Tax Simplification for America’s Job Creators Bill of 2004. The bill, H.R. 4840, sponsored by Rep. Phil Crane, R.-Ill, would extend for two years the increased level of Code Sec. 179 expensing. The current $100,000 is set to return to $25,000 after 2005. It also would extend for two years the $400,000 phase-out level, which is set to fall back to $200,000. The bill, which is estimated to cost $1.2 billion over a 10-year period, would extend the indexing of both amounts for two additional years to 2007, according to CCH.
According to CCH, the bill would also include software as Code Sec. 179 property and would index for inflation the $5 million gross receipts test for using the cash method of accounting.
The House also passed the Tax Simplification for Americans Tax Bill of 2003, H.R. 4841, which would raise the income cap for taxpayers to use the Form 1040 EZ form from the current $50,000 to $100,000 in taxable income.
Both measures must be taken up by the Senate.
