Individual American taxpayers and businesses can expect several tax breaks and incentives indefinitely thanks to the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015.
The act was signed into law by President Barack Obama in December and makes a number of tax programs that were typically renewed repeatedly on short term cycles permanent.
For individuals, these programs include the American Opportunity Tax Credit for higher education expenses, deductions for teachers' expenses, deductions for state and local sales taxes and tax-free donations from individual retirement plans to people 70 1/2 and older.
The tax breaks extended for businesses include the research tax credit; charitable deduction for food inventory contributions; an exemption for 100 percent of gains on certain small business stock; expanded Sec. 179 expensing limits; temporary credits for low-income housing projects not subsidized by the government; wage credits for active duty employees; 15-year cost recovery programs for retail, restaurant and leasehold improvements; and more.
Other programs, such as the Worker Opportunity Tax Credit, bonus depreciation, energy incentives, the Indian employment credit, deduction for higher education tuition and fees and expensing rules for TV and film productions, were all extended on a short-term basis, either through the end of the current year or, at most, through 2019.
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