HIRE Act Extends Section 179

Section 179 expensing of tangible property and computer software was set to be limited to $125,000 and phased out starting at $500,000 of section 179 property placed in service during the year. The HIRE Act, passed last week, has extended 2008 and 2009 increases in limitations for 2010. For 2010, taxpayers are allowed to expense up to $250,000 of section 179 property and the limit on section 179 property remains at $800,000.

The extension of the 2008 and 2009 amounts is also important because 2010 is the last year that computer software qualifies as section 179 property (section 179(d)(1)(A)(ii); computer software defined under section 179(e)(3)(B) described in section 197(e)(3)(A)(i).

Here is the full text of the HIRE Act.