II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1141 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide tax incentives 

for small businesses. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2015 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. CASEY) 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 

tax incentives for small businesses. 

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 ‘‘Small Business Tax 

5 Certainty and Growth Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING TAX REFORM. 

7 It is the sense of the Senate that Congress should 

8 undertake comprehensive tax reform legislation to— 

9 (1) make our system fairer and simpler; and 

10 (2) promote economic growth. 


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1 SEC. 3. PERMANENT DOUBLING OF DEDUCTIONS FOR 

2 START-UP EXPENSES, ORGANIZATIONAL EX3 PENSES, AND SYNDICATION FEES. 

4 (a) START-UP EXPENSES.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Clause (ii) of section 

6 195(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

7 is amended— 

8 (A) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘$10,000’’, and 

10 (B) by striking ‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting 

11 ‘‘$60,000’’. 

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (b) 

13 of section 195 of such Code is amended by striking 

14 paragraph (3). 

15 (b) ORGANIZATIONAL EXPENSES.—Subparagraph 

16 (B) of section 248(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

17 1986 is amended— 

18 (1) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘$10,000’’, and 

20 (2) by striking ‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting 

21 ‘‘$60,000’’. 

22 (c) ORGANIZATION AND SYNDICATION FEES.— 

23 Clause (ii) of section 709(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue 

24 Code of 1986 is amended— 

25 (1) by striking ‘‘$5,000’’ and inserting 

26 ‘‘$10,000’’, and 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘$50,000’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘$60,000’’. 

3 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

4 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in tax5 able years ending on or after the date of the enactment 

6 of this Act. 

7 SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF CASH ACCOUNTING RULES FOR 

8 SMALL BUSINESS. 

9 (a) CASH ACCOUNTING PERMITTED.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 446 of the Internal 

11 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the 

12 end the following new subsection: 

13 ‘‘(g) CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESS TAXPAYERS PER14 MITTED TO USE CASH ACCOUNTING METHOD WITHOUT

15 LIMITATION.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible taxpayer shall 

17 not be required to use an accrual method of account18 ing for any taxable year. 

19 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE TAXPAYER.—For purposes of 

20 this subsection, a taxpayer is an eligible taxpayer 

21 with respect to any taxable year if— 

22 ‘‘(A) for all prior taxable years beginning 

23 after December 31, 2015, the taxpayer (or any 

24 predecessor) met the gross receipts test of sec25 tion 448(c), and 


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1 ‘‘(B) the taxpayer is not subject to section 

2 447 or 448.’’. 

3 (2) EXPANSION OF GROSS RECEIPTS TEST.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (3) of sec5 tion 448(b) of such Code is amended by strik6 ing ‘‘$5,000,000’’ in the text and in the head7 ing and inserting ‘‘$10,000,000’’. 

8 (B) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 

9 448(c) of such Code is amended— 

10 (i) by striking ‘‘$5,000,000’’ each 

11 place it appears in the text and in the 

12 heading of paragraph (1) and inserting 

13 ‘‘$10,000,000’’, and 

14 (ii) by adding at the end the following 

15 new paragraph: 

16 ‘‘(4) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—In the case of 

17 any taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 

18 2016, the dollar amount contained in subsection 

19 (b)(3) and paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be 

20 increased by an amount equal to— 

21 ‘‘(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

22 ‘‘(B) the cost-of-living adjustment deter23 mined under section 1(f)(3) for the calendar 

24 year in which the taxable year begins, by subVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:21 May 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1141.IS S1141

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1 stituting ‘calendar year 2015’ for ‘calendar year 

2 1992’ in subparagraph (B) thereof. 

3 If any amount as adjusted under this subparagraph 

4 is not a multiple of $100,000, such amount shall be 

5 rounded to the nearest multiple of $100,000.’’. 

6 (b) CLARIFICATION OF INVENTORY RULES FOR

7 SMALL BUSINESS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 471 of the Internal 

9 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by redesignating 

10 subsection (c) as subsection (d) and by inserting 

11 after subsection (b) the following new subsection: 

12 ‘‘(c) SMALL BUSINESS TAXPAYERS NOT REQUIRED

13 TO USE INVENTORIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A qualified taxpayer shall 

15 not be required to use inventories under this section 

16 for a taxable year. 

17 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF TAXPAYERS NOT USING

18 INVENTORIES.—If a qualified taxpayer does not use 

19 inventories with respect to any property for any tax20 able year beginning after December 31, 2015, such 

21 property shall be treated as a material or supply 

22 which is not incidental. 

23 ‘‘(3) QUALIFIED TAXPAYER.—For purposes of 

24 this subsection, the term ‘qualified taxpayer’ 

25 means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) any eligible taxpayer (as defined in 

2 section 446(g)(2)), and 

3 ‘‘(B) any taxpayer described in section 

4 448(b)(3).’’. 

5 (2) INCREASED ELIGIBILITY FOR SIMPLIFIED

6 DOLLAR-VALUE LIFO METHOD.—Section 474(c) of 

7 such Code is amended by striking ‘‘$5,000,000’’ and 

8 inserting ‘‘the dollar amount in effect under section 

9 448(c)(1)’’. 

10 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE AND SPECIAL RULES.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The amendments made by 

12 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning 

13 after December 31, 2015. 

14 (2) CHANGE IN METHOD OF ACCOUNTING.—In 

15 the case of any taxpayer changing the taxpayer’s 

16 method of accounting for any taxable year under the 

17 amendments made by this section— 

18 (A) such change shall be treated as initi19 ated by the taxpayer; 

20 (B) such change shall be treated as made 

21 with the consent of the Secretary of the Treas22 ury; and 

23 (C) the net amount of the adjustments re24 quired to be taken into account by the taxpayer 

25 under section 481 of the Internal Revenue Code 


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1 of 1986 shall be taken into account over a pe2 riod (not greater than 4 taxable years) begin3 ning with such taxable year. 

4 SEC. 5. PERMANENT EXTENSION OF EXPENSING LIMITA5 TION. 

6 (a) DOLLAR LIMITATION.—Section 179(b)(1) of the 

7 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 

8 ‘‘shall not exceed’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘shall 

9 not exceed $500,000.’’. 

10 (b) REDUCTION IN LIMITATION.—Section 179(b)(2) 

11 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by strik12 ing ‘‘exceeds’’ and all that follows and inserting ‘‘exceeds 

13 $2,000,000.’’. 

14 (c) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—Subsection (b) of sec15 tion 179 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended 

16 by adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

17 ‘‘(6) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of any 

19 taxable year beginning in a calendar year after 

20 2016, the $500,000 in paragraph (1) and the 

21 $2,000,000 amount in paragraph (2) shall each 

22 be increased by an amount equal to— 

23 ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

24 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de25 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the calVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:14 May 09, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1141.IS S1141

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1 endar year in which the taxable year be2 gins, by substituting ‘calendar year 2015’ 

3 for ‘calendar year 1992’ in subparagraph 

4 (B) thereof. 

5 ‘‘(B) ROUNDING.— 

6 ‘‘(i) DOLLAR LIMITATION.—If the 

7 amount in paragraph (1) as increased 

8 under subparagraph (A) is not a multiple 

9 of $1,000, such amount shall be rounded 

10 to the nearest multiple of $1,000. 

11 ‘‘(ii) PHASEOUT AMOUNT.—If the 

12 amount in paragraph (2) as increased 

13 under subparagraph (A) is not a multiple 

14 of $10,000, such amount shall be rounded 

15 to the nearest multiple of $10,000.’’. 

16 (d) COMPUTER SOFTWARE.—Section 

17 179(d)(1)(A)(ii) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

18 amended by striking ‘‘and before 2015’’. 

19 (e) ELECTION.—Section 179(c)(2) of the Internal 

20 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘and before 

21 2015’’. 

22 (f) SPECIAL RULES FOR TREATMENT OF QUALIFIED

23 REAL PROPERTY.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 179(f)(1) of the In25 ternal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 


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1 ‘‘after 2009 and before 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘after 

2 2009’’. 

3 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 179(f) 

4 of such Code is amended by striking paragraph (4). 

5 (g) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

6 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

7 December 31, 2015. 

8 SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF BONUS DEPRECIATION. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 168(k) 

10 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— 

11 (1) by striking ‘‘January 1, 2016’’ in subpara12 graph (A)(iv) and inserting ‘‘January 1, 2017’’, and 

13 (2) by striking ‘‘January 1, 2015’’ each place 

14 it appears and inserting ‘‘January 1, 2016’’. 

15 (b) SPECIAL RULE FOR FEDERAL LONG-TERM CON16 TRACTS.—Clause (ii) of section 460(c)(6)(B) of the Inter17 nal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘Janu18 ary 1, 2015 (January 1, 2016’’ and inserting ‘‘January 

19 1, 2016 (January 1, 2017’’. 

20 (c) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

21 (1) The heading for subsection (k) of section 

22 168 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend23 ed by striking ‘‘JANUARY 1, 2015’’ and inserting 

24 ‘‘JANUARY 1, 2016’’. 


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1 (2) The heading for clause (ii) of section 

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

3 ‘‘PRE-JANUARY 1, 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘PRE-JANU4 ARY 1, 2016’’. 

5 (3) Section 168(k)(4)(D) of such Code is 

6 amended by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (ii), 

7 by striking the period at the end of clause (iii) and 

8 inserting a comma, and by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new clauses: 

10 ‘‘(iv) ‘January 1, 2016’ shall be sub11 stituted for ‘January 1, 2017’ in subpara12 graph (A)(iv) thereof, and 

13 ‘‘(v) ‘January 1, 2015’ shall be sub14 stituted for ‘January 1, 2016’ each place it 

15 appears in subparagraph (A) thereof.’’. 

16 (4) Section 168(l)(4) of such Code is amended 

17 by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subparagraph (A), 

18 by redesignating subparagraph (B) as subparagraph 

19 (C), and by inserting after subparagraph (A) the fol20 lowing new subparagraph: 

21 ‘‘(B) by substituting ‘January 1, 2015’ for 

22 ‘January 1, 2016’ in clause (i) thereof, and’’. 

23 (5) Clause (ii) of section 168(n)(2)(C) of such 

24 Code is amended by striking ‘‘January 1, 2015’’ and 

25 inserting ‘‘January 1, 2016’’. 


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1 (6) Subparagraph (D) of section 1400L(b)(2) 

2 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘January 1, 

3 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘January 1, 2016’’. 

4 (7) Subparagraph (B) of section 1400N(d)(3) 

5 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘January 1, 

6 2015’’ and inserting ‘‘January 1, 2016’’. 

7 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

9 December 31, 2015, in taxable years ending after such 

10 date. 

11 SEC. 7. EXTENSION OF 15-YEAR STRAIGHT-LINE COST RE12 COVERY FOR QUALIFIED LEASEHOLD IM13 PROVEMENTS, QUALIFIED RESTAURANT 

14 BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS, AND 

15 QUALIFIED RETAIL IMPROVEMENTS. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraph (E) of section 

17 168(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amend18 ed— 

19 (1) by striking ‘‘property placed in service be20 fore January 1, 2015,’’ in clauses (iv) and (v) and 

21 inserting ‘‘property,’’, and 

22 (2) by striking ‘‘, and before January 1, 2015’’ 

23 in clause (ix). 


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

2 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

3 December 31, 2015. 

Æ 


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