Tax Reform Legislation Enters the Senate Finance Committee
I received this email forward from the National Broadcaster Association last night from Scott Thomas, General Manager at KFVS, who has been actively engaged in advocating for the protection of the full 100% deduction for advertising expenditures:
“Today, House Republicans unveiled their tax reform proposal, and we are pleased to report that with the support and engagement of our members, we were successful in preventing the inclusion of any limitation to the advertising tax deduction. Read NAB’s statement here.
However, we are not out of the woods yet. As the legislative process continues through the House and Senate, Congress taking away all or a portion of this tax deduction remains a possibility. This would make advertising more expensive for businesses, significantly impacting your bottom lines and ability to serve your local communities.
We need your continued help in fighting any changes to the advertising deduction.
Here’s what you can do today:
- Click here to thank your members of Congress for supporting broadcast stations, small businesses and local jobs by not slashing the ad tax deduction.
- Recruit advocates. Make sure your advertising partners know how a tax on advertising could harm their ability to reach customers and grow their businesses. Urge them to join Businesses Against the Ad Tax.
By making our voices heard in Congress, we can ensure stations can continue to deliver the emergency updates, news and entertainment our communities rely on every day and local businesses continue to thrive and grow.”
Simply, there was no clause in the bill that would eliminate the full 100% deduction for advertising expenditures in the year that they were incurred.
I have yet to receive an update, as requested in an email sent to our VP in AAF Governmental Affairs upon hearing the House was passing out a bill yesterday, so that is why you’re getting the NAB release which is a reliable source.
NOTE: This isn’t over yet, and at best it is “halfway” through the process as the House Bill now goes to the Senate Finance Committee.
The administration intends to pass TAX REFORM legislation ASAP and certainly by the end of the year.
For the elimination of the full deduction of advertising to now become a part of a bill that is passed by Congress:
The Senate Finance Committee would have to insert that clause into the bill sent from the House, send it back to the House where the clause would have to be added and then passed.
More good news: Senator Claire McCaskill is on the Senate Finance Committee and in our 2014 meeting with her Chief of Staff she reported the Senator opposed the clause that would eliminate the full deduction. The same stance was reported to me in a call to the Senator’s office a week or so ago.
Senator McCaskill’s contact information:
- 202.224.6154 (Washington DC Office)
- 573.651.0964 (Cape Girardeau Office).
- 555 Independence St., Room 1600, Cape Girardeau, MO. 63703
Senator Roy Blunt is in favor of Tax Reform and worked with President Trump in a meeting in Springfield earlier this year to help pass the bill through Congress.
Senator Blunt’s Contact info:
- 202.224.5721 (Washington DC Office)
- 573.334.7044 (Cape Girardeau Office)
Finally, we must send our “Thanks and Appreciation” our Congressman Jason Smith. He, undoubtedly, supported the bill and in response to a question sent from the 8th Congressional District Republican Chairman, early in the process, stated that he would protect the full deduction for advertising.