Engineering Inc. - September/October 2016 - 6

Legislative Action ACEC Responding to R&D Tax Credit, Section 179D Concerns Congress Extends Airport Funding Through September 2017 B efore the summer congressional recess, lawmakers in the House and Senate approved an extension of airport funding and other Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs through Sept. 30, 2017. The legislation ensures stable funding for critical infrastructure accounts-an ACEC priority- including the Airport Improvement Program, FAA facilities and equipment, and the collection of passenger facility charges and other user fees. It also includes targeted policy changes related to aviation safety, airport security and the operation of unmanned aircraft 6 ENGINEERING INC. SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2016 systems around critical facilities as well as during emergency response activities. A more comprehensive, longer-term re-authorization of FAA programs stalled in the House earlier this year over objections to a proposal to move air traffic control functions to a private, nonprofit entity. The extension does not include any provisions related to the privatization of air traffic control. The bipartisan leaders of the House and Senate transportation committees expressed their commitment to working together on a long-term bill next year. MICHAEL H/GETTY IMAGES groveb/GETTY IMAGES A CEC is engaging Congress and the IRS on member concerns over challenges involving the R&D tax credit and the Section 179D energy-efficient commercial buildings tax deduction. The R&D tax credit incentivizes firms to perform research work in the United States. Although the law does not limit the tax credit to particular industries, A/E firms have reported examples of having the credit denied by IRS examiners. ACEC is working with members of Congress and the agency to ensure that firms can claim the credit when appropriate, and ACEC is developing programming to better educate members about the credit. ACEC members Firms have have also reported raised concerns challenges with about situations the Section 179D in which tax deduction, governmental which is intended entities are to encourage demanding commercial building payments in owners to install exchange for certain energyassigning the efficient systems, such as lighting and deduction to the designer. HVAC. If the owner is a governmental entity, it can assign the tax deduction to the designer. Firms have raised concerns about situations in which governmental entities are demanding payments in exchange for assigning the deduction to the designer. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., recently wrote to the Secretaries of Treasury and Housing and Urban Development to raise serious concerns about the ethical and legal questions surrounding this practice. Firms experiencing problems with these tax provisions are encouraged to contact Katharine Mottley, ACEC's director of tax & regulatory affairs, at 202-682-4306 or kmottley@acec.org.

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - September/October 2016