Fast Tax Write-Offs

Archive Report

Amortization of Defense Plant Costs

Authority for rapid amortization of the costs of industrial facilities affected with a defense interest moved a step closer to extinction, Aug. 12, when the Senate approved legislation to impose immediate restrictions on the practice and to terminate it completely by Dec. 31, 1959. The program of so-called fast tax write-offs, introduced in World War II to spur expansion of production facilities and revived in 1950 after outbreak of the Korean war, had already been drastically scaled down. However, the Office of Defense Mobilization, which administers the program, urged that it be continued in a few fields.

Instead, the Senate tacked on to a minor House-passed tax bill a measure by Finance Committee Chairman Harry F, Byrd (D-Va.), which embodies only ...

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