President Signs Jobs Bill Extending Section 179 Expensing Again

In general, qualifying property is defined as depreciable tangible personal property that is purchased for use in the active conduct of a trade or business, and it must be placed-inservice before January 1, 2011. Off-the-shelf computer software also qualifies.

The new law also maintains the $250,000 limit on capital investment in 2010 that can be expensed for companies that purchase less than $800,000 of capital assets in the year. The $250,000 expensing amount is reduced (but not below zero) by the amount by which the cost of qualifying property placed-in-service during the taxable year exceeds $800,000. The entire $250,000 of enhanced expensing is phased-out after the taxpayer invests $1,050,000. Enhanced Section 179 expensing applies to equipment that is new or used (“new to the purchaser”).