H.R. 1, commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, implements sweeping changes to the U.S. tax system. These changes will alter the fundamental tax principles upon which many investment and organizational decisions by the private investment industry were made.

Lawyers in our Tax and Private Investment Funds

On Friday, December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law H.R. 1, the $1.5 trillion tax reform law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Reform Act”). This alert describes provisions of the Tax Reform Act that we expect will have the most significant impact and immediate effect on the sports industry. Unless otherwise noted, all proposals described below will be effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017.

In a radio segment on Marketplace, partner David Miller comments on tax reform and the impact of the new $10,000 cap on the state income, property and sales tax that individuals can deduct. The segment also explores the loopholes and workarounds that states could implement to allow their residents to

On Friday, December 15, the U.S. House of Representative and Senate conferees reached agreement on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) (the “Final Bill”), and released legislative text, an explanation, and the Joint Committee on Taxation estimated budget effects (commonly referred to as the “score”).  Next week the House and Senate are each expected to pass the bill, and it is expected to be sent to the President for signature the following week.  As the conferees actually signed the conference text, changes (even of a limited and/or technical nature) are extremely unlikely at this point.

The Final Bill largely follows the Senate bill, but with certain important differences.  We outline some of the most significant differences between the Final Bill, the earlier House bill, and the Senate bill.  We then discuss in detail some of the most significant provisions of the Final Bill.  The provisions discussed are generally proposed to apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, subject to certain exceptions (only some of which are noted below).  While we discuss some of these provisions in detail, we do not address all restrictions, exclusions, and various other nuances applicable to any given provision.

Under both the House and Senate versions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Internal Revenue Code Section 162(m) would be modified to expand the scope of companies and executive officers subject to the limitation on deductibility of compensation over $1 million, as well as to eliminate the exception to non-deductibility under Section 162(m) for qualified performance-based compensation. The changes would be effective for tax years after 2017, but under the Senate bill, binding contracts in effect on November 2, 2017 would be grandfathered if not materially modified on or after that date).  Each version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act would also generally lower the corporate tax rate to 20%.  The House bill reduces the corporate tax rate beginning in 2018 and the Senate reduces it beginning in 2019.