The Senate on Thursday passed the Creating Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (part of the Small Business Jobs and Credit Act, HR 5297) by a vote of 61–38, and sent it back to the House of Representatives. The bill as passed by the Senate differs from the version the House passed in June, with several provisions added, and some dropped, including a provision that would have required grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) to last for a term of not less than 10 years.

The Senate bill contains several tax items affecting small businesses and some revenue raisers.

Small Business Tax Relief

Section 179 expensing and bonus depreciation. The bill increases the maximum amount a taxpayer may expense under IRC § 179 to $500,000 and increases the phaseout threshold amount to $2 million for tax years beginning in 2010 and 2011. The first-year 50% bonus depreciation available under IRC § 168(k) is extended for one year to apply to property acquired and placed in service in 2010 (or 2011 for certain long-lived and transportation property). The bill also allows taxpayers using the percentage-of-completion method to take into account the cost of qualified property as if bonus depreciation had not been enacted.

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