House GOP leaders yesterday delayed a vote on a $54 billion dollar tax bill released Monday (H.R. 88) by House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX) that includes tax "extenders" and technical corrections of importance to commercial real estate.  (Brady Statement, Nov. 26 and CQ, Nov. 30) 

GOP leaders yesterday delayed a vote on a $54 billion dollar tax bill released Monday (H.R. 88) by House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady (R-TX), above, that includes tax "extenders" and technical corrections of importance to commercial real estate.  (Brady Statement, Nov. 26)

• Specific provisions affecting real estate include technical corrections to fix errors in last year's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.  The bill would:
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• shorten the cost recovery period for qualified improvement property, a new category of depreciable property that covers upgrades and improvements to the interior of nonresidential buildings;
• clarify that the new 20 percent deduction for pass-through business income extends to REIT dividends received by mutual fund shareholders;
• temporarily extend the expired deduction for energy-efficient commercial building property (Section 179D); and
• temporarily extend other expired provisions affecting homeowners, such as a deduction for mortgage insurance premiums and a tax exclusion for mortgage debt forgiveness.  (Roundtable Weekly, Oct. 19) 
• In October, The Roundtable along with 239 businesses and trade groups, wrote to Secretary Mnuchin urging the Treasury Department to provide administrative relief from a drafting mistake that increased the cost recovery period for qualified improvement property (QIP) to 39 years, instead of 15. (Roundtable Weekly, Oct. 12)  

It is uncertain when the wide-ranging tax bill will be considered but debate on the legislation may take place next week.  

Senate Democrats, whose support is needed to assure passage of any tax changes before next year, reportedly, "are determined to win concessions in exchange for providing votes to fix errors in last year's law.  (Wall Street Journal, Nov. 30)  Yet it remains unclear what concessions Democrats are seeking.  When asked about the bill's prospects in the Senate, Sen Charles Grassley (R-IA), the likely Senate Finance chairman next year, said "Not if brought up separately, only if it's put in the funding bill."  (CQ, Nov. 28).