AIA Provides Details on Tax Break for Architects

AIA Provides Details on Tax Break for Architects

As reported in recent editions of The Angle, 2005 is the first tax year in which architects can use the new tax break that Congress passed in 2004. The AIA advocated strongly for this provision and wants to ensure that AIA members eligible for the deduction use it.As with many tax matters, the provision is complex and has several limitations on its use. Therefore, the AIA asked the law firm of Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds to draft a brief guide to the provision that will be useful to members and their accountants in preparing returns for the 2005 tax year. That guidance document can be found here.

Capitol Hill Watch
Senate Poised to Act on Small Business Health Insurance

A key Senate committee is poised to take action on legislation to help make health care more affordable for small businesses, including thousands of architecture firms.

This month, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee is planning to debate and vote on S. 1955, the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act, sponsored by Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY). The legislation would make it easier for small business owners to purchase affordable health insurance by allowing trade, industry, and professional associations to establish small business health plans (SBHPs). It will help standardize requirements for SBHPs across the states while including important safeguards to ensure solvency and maintaining the primary role of states in health insurance oversight. The result will be that millions of Americans who own and work for small businesses will have access to affordable health care.

Although the House of Representatives has passed similar legislation eight separate times over the last decade, including last July, the Senate has never acted. Opponents, including state insurance regulators, consumer groups, and some large insurance providers like Blue Cross/Blue Shield, have prevented the House-passed bill from becoming law. Recognizing the stalemate, Enzi began drafting a new bill last fall to address the concerns of the bill’s opponents.

“We commend Chairman Enzi for breaking the logjam that has prevented Congress from taking action on this issue and providing relief to small firms and practitioners who are facing huge insurance premiums,” said Tom Wolfe, senior director, AIA Federal Affairs. “This is the first and best opportunity we’ve seen in a long time for Congress to act on small business health care. We can’t let this opportunity slip away.

”Small business health care was one of the top issues that AIA members brought to their senators and representatives last month during the AIA Grassroots Legislative and Leadership Conference. The AIA is also part of a coalition, which also includes the major engineering and construction societies, that is working to pass small business health care legislation. The coalition is working to reach out to undecided senators to show their support for the bill.

The AIA strongly urges AIA members to contact their senators to ask them to vote in favor of the legislation. Visit the AIA online advocacy center to learn how you can help make small business health care affordable.

For more information: amelis@aia.org