10/11/2018

Associations Look to Lame Duck for Tax Changes

One major correction being sought impacts retail and restaurant communities

Many in Washington, D.C. are looking to the lame duck session in hopes that Congress will pass fixes to the 2017 tax law. One major correction that the retail and restaurant community are seeking is an error that denies credit for renovations for many retail and restaurant businesses. Senior officials at Treasury’s Office of Tax Policy and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have stated they will not issue regulations to ease this issue, and that it’s up to Congress to make the changes.

On the association tax issues front, the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and the Ohio Society of Association Executives (OSAE) are hopeful that the excise tax on tax-exempts’ parking and transportation benefits along with separate computation of unrelated business income tax (UBIT) will be addressed. Earlier this year, the Department of Treasury issued interim guidance allowing organizations to net their parking and transportation expenses against any other UBIT income, which could wipe out any tax. Unfortunately, this new guidance will not help associations and charities without any other sources of unrelated business income (UBI).

ASAE and the UBIT Coalition, of which OSAE is a part, have been asking for guidance from Treasury for months on the siloing provision as well as the parking and transportation fringe benefits provision, both part of last year’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TJCA). The UBIT Coalition will continue to urge Treasury to delay these provisions and separately pursue a legislative fix by Congress. To join the UBIT Coalition, please email publicpolicy@asaecenter.org.

This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.