With the summer rapidly waning, and the last quarter of 2016 fast approaching, you have to starting thinking about your technology budgets for 2017. So, you’re sitting there with your technology wish list in one hand, and your actual budget for such things in the other. It is rare that the two can coexist and be agreeable with each other, especially for the small to mid-sized business. Or, as we love to abbreviate it, your typical SMB. Granted, some of you may have already finished the process, despite the pain and the angst. If you are in that very early number, I salute you!
But for many other organizations out there, the days are growing shorter, and not just on sunlight. If you are contemplating some spending in 2017, and at the bare minimum you have to consider just the costs to maintain where you are, maybe the IRS can help you. Yes, you know… those folks that you shudder to think about come April! Over the last few years, there has been a provision in the tax code that allows for some extra special deductions for capital spending to help your business grow, or even just get more efficient. The Section 179 deduction is something that you should be considering if you are thinking about some of those changes.
With the current political climate, and the uncertainty of a Presidential election result, there is no guarantee that the deduction will be renewed for next year. That could mean that to take advantage of extra depreciation of new assets, like a new network infrastructure (moving to the cloud, for example), you may have to do it before December 31. But the good thing is even if you spend the cash now, you don’t have to have the work performed in this calendar year, so the project could continue beyond New Years Day. And no, it doesn’t have to be only hardware and software; some of the spend can indeed be on cloud solutions! But I’m not an accountant, nor do I play one on TV. So check with your financial go-to person to get the skinny. If you are like me and want to look for yourself, here’s a link to some of the information, as well as a calculator app to see just how much this could work for you:
Understanding the Section 179 Deduction
See if it might be the answer you’ve been looking for!