II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4955 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for an election 

to expense certain qualified sound recording costs otherwise chargeable 

to capital account. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 3, 2020 

Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mrs. BLACKBURN) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide 

for an election to expense certain qualified sound recording costs otherwise chargeable to capital account. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Help Independent 

5 Tracks Succeed Act’’ or the ‘‘HITS Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN QUALIFIED SOUND RE7 CORDING PRODUCTIONS. 

8 (a) ELECTION TO TREAT COSTS AS EXPENSES.— 

9 Section 181(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 


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•S 4955 IS

1 is amended by striking ‘‘qualified film or television produc2 tion, and any qualified live theatrical production,’’ and in3 serting ‘‘qualified film or television production, any quali4 fied live theatrical production, and any qualified sound re5 cording production’’. 

6 (b) DOLLAR LIMITATION.—Section 181(a)(2) of such 

7 Code is amended by adding at the end the following new 

8 paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(C) QUALIFIED SOUND RECORDING PRO10 DUCTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not apply to so 

11 much of the aggregate cost of any qualified 

12 sound recording production, or to so much of 

13 the aggregate, cumulative cost of all such quali14 fied sound recording productions in the taxable 

15 year, as exceeds $150,000.’’. 

16 (c) NO OTHER DEDUCTION OR AMORTIZATION DE17 DUCTION ALLOWABLE.—Section 181(b) of such Code is 

18 amended by striking ‘‘qualified film or television produc19 tion or any qualified live theatrical production’’ and insert20 ing ‘‘qualified film or television production, any qualified 

21 live theatrical production, or any qualified sound recording 

22 production’’. 

23 (d) ELECTION.—Section 181(c)(1) of such Code is 

24 amended by striking ‘‘qualified film or television produc25 tion or any qualified live theatrical production’’ and insertVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Dec 11, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4955.IS S4955

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1 ing ‘‘qualified film or television production, any qualified 

2 live theatrical production, or any qualified sound recording 

3 production’’. 

4 (e) QUALIFIED SOUND RECORDING PRODUCTION

5 DEFINED.—Section 181 of such Code is amended by re6 designating subsections (f) and (g) as subsections (g) and 

7 (h), respectively, and by inserting after subsection (e) the 

8 following new subsection: 

9 ‘‘(f) QUALIFIED SOUND RECORDING PRODUCTION.— 

10 For purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified sound re11 cording production’ means a sound recording (as defined 

12 in section 101 of title 17, United States Code) produced 

13 and recorded in the United States.’’. 

14 (f) BONUS DEPRECIATION.— 

15 (1) QUALIFIED SOUND RECORDING PRODUC16 TION AS QUALIFIED PROPERTY.—Section 

17 168(k)(2)(A)(i) of such Code is amended— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of sub19 clause (IV), by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of sub20 clause (V), and by inserting after subclause (V) 

21 the following: 

22 ‘‘(VI) which is a qualified sound 

23 recording production (as defined in 

24 subsection (f) of section 181) for 

25 which a deduction would have been alVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:11 Dec 11, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4955.IS S4955

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1 lowable under section 181 without re2 gard to subsections (a)(2) and (h) of 

3 such section or this subsection,’’; and 

4 (B) in subclauses (IV) and (V) (as amend5 ed) by striking ‘‘without regard to subsections 

6 (a)(2) and (g)’’ both places it appears and in7 serting ‘‘without regard to subsections (a)(2) 

8 and (h)’’. 

9 (2) PRODUCTION PLACED IN SERVICE.—Section 

10 168(k)(2)(H) of such Code is amended by striking 

11 ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (i), by striking the period 

12 at the end of clause (ii) and inserting ‘‘, and’’, and 

13 by adding after clause (ii) the following: 

14 ‘‘(iii) a qualified sound recording pro15 duction shall be considered to be placed in 

16 service at the time of initial release or 

17 broadcast.’’. 

18 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

19 (1) The heading for section 181 of such Code 

20 is amended to read as follows: ‘‘TREATMENT OF

21 CERTAIN QUALIFIED PRODUCTIONS.’’. 

22 (2) The table of sections for part VI of sub23 chapter B of chapter 1 of such Code is amended by 

24 striking the item relating to section 181 and insert25 ing the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 181. Treatment of certain qualified productions.’’. 


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1 (h) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to productions commencing in tax3 able years ending after the date of the enactment of this 

4 Act. 

Æ 


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