Manufacturers Urge Congress to Pass Important Tax Extenders Legislation

Washington, DC, December 2, 2014 – The National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA) and the Precision Metalforming Association (PMA) today urged Congress to pass a tax extenders bill this month that makes key tax provisions used by U.S. manufacturers permanent, including the R&D Tax Credit, Section 179 Expensing and extending Bonus Depreciation for all of 2014 and 2015.  These tax provisions, which Congress allowed to expire last year, help NTMA and PMA members and thousands of other manufacturers across the country make investments in technology and hire more workers.

“It’s time for Congress to end the uncertainty and pass a tax extenders bill that makes permanent tax provisions that are boosting manufacturing and creating jobs,” said NTMA President Dave Tilstone.  “Manufacturers need to plan ahead and unfortunately Congress is not helping. Uncertainty from Washington about the future of key tax provisions used to grow our businesses causes manufacturers to slow or stop investing.”

In a November briefing at the House of Representatives, PMA Member Wes Smith, President and CEO of E&E Manufacturing in Plymouth, MI, testified that companies like his rely on key tax provisions to have the resources available to make investments and hire more employees.

“If we knew at the beginning of this year that Congress would not extend Bonus Depreciation and Section 179 Expensing, we would not have invested the $13 million we have in 2014 on new equipment,” said Smith, whose automotive supply company employs over 300 workers.

Smith said that manufacturers large and small plan their investments years in advance. “We just spent $10 million on a new set of machines, but that equipment takes over two years to place into service,” Smith said.  “How can I plan and finance a two-year, $10 million project when I don’t even know what Congress will do two months from now?  We can’t just purchase a machine on December 31st by midnight based on a vote Congress took that day. ”

“Last month, in Atlanta, at the FABTECH Exhibition – North America’s largest trade show for the metal forming, fabricating, welding and metal finishing industries – tens of thousands of owners and executives of manufacturing companies were in the position of having to make decisions on investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new machines, technologies, software and services, without knowing the status of Section 179 Expensing and Bonus Depreciation for either 2014 or for 2015.  It was an absolute travesty that these manufacturers were forced to make these decisions without knowing how these expenditures would be treated for tax purposes,” said PMA President Bill Gaskin.  “If Congress cannot make these provisions permanent, at the very least, they must extend them for all of 2014 and 2015.  Congress needs to pass a tax extenders bill during the Lame Duck session.”