US House extends racehorse tax break

A key provision that extends three-year tax depreciation for all racehorses through 2020 today passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 297-120. The racehorse provision is part of a larger tax package agreed to by Republican and Democratic leaders and now expected to be taken up by the Senate in the next several days.

Uniform three-year racehorse depreciation was among numerous tax provisions across many industries that either expired at the beginning of 2018 or this year, or were set to expire as of Jan. 1, 2020. The bill reinstates the 3-year schedule for all racehorses retroactive to 2018.

The provision allows taxpayers to depreciate, on a three-year schedule, racehorses 24 months of age and younger when purchased and placed into service, as opposed to a seven-year schedule.

“Reinstatement of three-year depreciation for all racehorses helps attract and retain investment in the horse racing industry,” said NTRA President and Chief Executive Officer Alex Waldrop. “We appreciate the House’s work to include this important provision.”

Three-year racehorse depreciation was most recently available to the industry in 2017 but Congress did not renew it for 2018 as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) passed in December 2017. The TCJA did include 100% bonus depreciation and a $1 million Sec. 179 expense allowance for qualified depreciable property, two important investment incentives that lessened the need for three-year depreciation in many cases. However, three-year depreciation continues to be a beneficial option for many racehorse owners, especially racing partnerships with multiple passive owners, as it better aligns deductions with corresponding income opportunities on an annual basis.

Maintaining the three-year recovery period for racehorse purchases has been a top legislative priority for the NTRA federal legislative team since the provision’s initial enactment as part of the 2008 Farm Bill.

The Senate has until Friday, December 20, to pass this legislation.

NOTES Separately, the Horseracing Integrity Act, which would put medication rules and enforcement under a national “Horseracing Anti-Doping and Medication Control Authority,” reached 220 cosponsors in the US House of Representatives; that’s more than half of the chamber. A similar Senate bill has 19 cosponsors…

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