'Grey Lady's' Op-Ed Critical Of Extension Of Accelerated Depreciation

When The New York Times ran an op-ed piece against extending tax provisions, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen responded with the letter to the editor below:

To the Editor:

“A Costly and Outrageous Tax Break,” by David A. Super (Op-Ed, Dec. 3), ignores the benefits that flow to American workers and vital industries when Congress agrees to accelerated depreciation allowances for business investments.
 
The House vote on Dec. 3 to extend accelerated depreciation affirms what most industry analysts and economists understand — that businesses are unable to fully deduct the initial cost of capital investments, including those made in aircraft, as they do with labor and raw material. Instead, they must write these costs off over many years, and, as a result, never recoup the full value of investments that drive economic growth.
 
Allowing “bonus” depreciation delivers long-term (not short-term) stimulus to industries like general aviation, which provides high-skill, and high-paying, jobs for more than 1.2 million Americans, and is responsible for generating $150 billion in economic activity in the United States annually. Accelerated depreciation also gives American companies immediate access to the most advanced equipment, including aircraft, making them more competitive, while preserving jobs in aviation-related manufacturing, one of the few industries that contributes positively to America’s trade balance.
 
This is why ours is among the 500 industry groups advocating extending these tax provisions.

FMI: www.nbaa.org