I always enjoy listening to the State of the Union address. If you missed it, I highly recommend at least reading a summary like the one found here.

One of the things that President Obama proposed was that congress “provide a tax incentive for all large businesses and all small businesses to invest in new plants and equipment,” a proposal applauded by the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association. The tax incentive may take the form of an extension of the bonus depreciation provision that was found in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. An article on cfo.com explains that:

Such a measure would accelerate straight-line depreciation back into the first year of equipment ownership. For example, a purchaser of equipment might normally be able to claim a depreciation of 20% for each year of the first five years of ownership. Under the measure Fenig thinks the President will propose, the purchaser could claim a 50% depreciation in the first year. The aim would be “to encourage people to act now, not later,” he says, adding that the cost of the measure could be about $30 billion.