Bulletin Board Magazine [Volume 2 - 2025]

Trending Finance News The One Big Beautiful Bill

On July 4, 2025, President Donald Trump signed into law new legislation that will impact many facets of our business and individual finances. This comprehensive bill modifies many areas of our tax code, legislative spending practices, and overall economic aspects of a day in the life of the USA. The bill itself exceeds nine hundred pages and while the ink is not yet dry, we know it will take weeks to decode, decipher, digest, and obtain regulatory guidance on how many provisions in the bill will work. Like any large project we must approach it in steps, breaking down the aspects we can

quickly understand and implement. Later, we can dive into the deep end and really apply long term critical thinking in establishing a strategy to grow our businesses and minimize the tax costs. By highlighting just a few of the bill’s provisions today, we can paint a picture of the scope and benefits it contains to contractors in our industry. I would like to think of this read as a primer, smoothing the surface and getting it ready for the finished coat.

The new bill starts where the old bill left off. The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) had several sunsetting provisions with deadlines approaching at year-end December 31, 2025. The One Big Beautiful Bill extends some of those items, makes others permanent law or introduces us to all new tax incentives in areas the TCJA was not previously impacting. It is also worth noting that the bill went through a number of re-writes, language was modified as different interests and views shaped the approval process. So, I caution all, to verify the details, as Contractors like to say, “measure twice, cut once.” Sound advice and highly practical in this situation. Inauguration day for President Trump was January 20, 2025, so implementation dates of these changes all take effect after January 19, 2025. For any business that is considering capital expenditure to acquire property, plant or equipment, the bill delivers improvements in two incredibly significant areas, (1) bonus depreciation and (2) research & development costs. First year bonus depreciation deduction under section 168(k) will become permanent. This 100% deduction in the year of acquisition is applicable for property and equipment which has a recovery period of 20 years or less. If your property did not qualify under Sec. 168(k), we have section 179 expense receiving an upgrade as well. The new maximum amount a taxpayer may expense is increased under Sec. 179 to $2,500,000. This amount is reduced by any

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