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The
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Show 10 __ Tax Incentives
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Did you know that there are tax incentives to help businesses be accessible to people with disabilities? Learn more about them in this podcast!
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Hello and welcome to the Disability Law Lowdown.
I’m your host.
My name is Danny Warthling.
Welcome to this ASL podcast.
Today’s podcast is about tax incentives. Businesses and employers use them to help reduce the financial costs of complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The lawyers want me to be sure to tell you that, even though we are talking about the federal tax laws and the Internal Revenue Service that we are not giving any advice about taxes or tax law. We are just providing information about two tax incentives that can help with the cost of compliance with the ADA. You can get more information about these and other tax incentives at www.irs.gov or by consulting your own tax advisor.
The two sections of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax code that we will be discussing are section 190, which is known as the Architectural and Transportation Barrier Removal tax deduction, and section 44, which is known as the Disabled Access tax credit.
First, it might be helpful to explain the difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit. Both are ways of lowering the amount of tax you pay to the federal government. How do tax deductions work? For example, suppose you earn 00 a month. But instead of paying taxes on 00, maybe you only pay taxes on 00, which reduces how much you owe.
Tax credits are computed after you figure how much you owe in taxes. It works sort of like a gift card. Suppose you have a gift card for . You go shopping and buy something that costs 0. You only pay because you have a gift card for . The tax credit works the same way.
Like I said, The Architectural and Transportation Barrier Removal is a tax deduction for barrier removal. So if a business spends money to remove either architectural or transportation barriers, the business can take a tax deduction for those expenses. For example, if a business creates accessible parking spaces in customer parking lots, makes an accessible path of travel from the parking lot to the entrance, installs curb ramps, widens doorways – - those are the kinds of barrier removal activities that might fall under this tax incentive provision. The tax deduction can’t be used for new construction or even as part of an ongoing alteration. But otherwise, this tax deduction is available to all businesses and it is an annual deduction that can used every year for up to ,000 in covered expenses.
The other tax law I mentioned earlier is the Disabled Access tax credit. This one applies to businesses with 30 or fewer employees, or businesses which had less than one million dollars in gross operating revenue the previous year. The tax credit can also be used for barrier removal, but unlike that other provision, this tax credit can also be used to provide effective communication with customers with disabilities, such as the Deaf. As an example, if a lawyer has a client who is Deaf coming in for an appointment and the client needs an ASL interpreter in order to have effective communication with the lawyer, then the expense of the interpreter could become a tax credit.
For employers, it could include providing assistive technology or adaptive equipment for employees with disabilities. If an employer buys screen reading software to allow a blind employee to access a computer, that expense could also become a tax credit.
The tax credit is a little more complicated than the deduction. It doesn’t apply to the first 0 of expenses, then it applies to 50% of the expenses over that, up to a maximum of ,250.
The good news is that you can use both the tax credit and the tax deduction if the expenses and the businesses qualify for both. If you have questions about these two tax laws, you can call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040 or visit their website at www.irs.gov.
I hope you enjoyed watching this ASL video podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. You can subscribe for free through iTunes or by going to ASL.DisabilityLawLowdown.com
The Disability Law Lowdown is sponsored by a network of ten ADA Centers around the country. The ADA Centers provide training and technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability-related laws. You can call us at 1-800-949-4232 (V/TTY). The ADA Centers are supported by NIDRR.
Today’s podcast is about tax incentives. Businesses and employers use them to help reduce the financial costs of complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The lawyers want me to be sure to tell you that, even though we are talking about the federal tax laws and the Internal Revenue Service that we are not giving any advice about taxes or tax law. We are just providing information about two tax incentives that can help with the cost of compliance with the ADA. You can get more information about these and other tax incentives at www.irs.gov or by consulting your own tax advisor.
The two sections of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax code that we will be discussing are section 190, which is known as the Architectural and Transportation Barrier Removal tax deduction, and section 44, which is known as the Disabled Access tax credit.
First, it might be helpful to explain the difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit. Both are ways of lowering the amount of tax you pay to the federal government. How do tax deductions work? For example, suppose you earn 00 a month. But instead of paying taxes on 00, maybe you only pay taxes on 00, which reduces how much you owe.
Tax credits are computed after you figure how much you owe in taxes. It works sort of like a gift card. Suppose you have a gift card for . You go shopping and buy something that costs 0. You only pay because you have a gift card for . The tax credit works the same way.
Like I said, The Architectural and Transportation Barrier Removal is a tax deduction for barrier removal. So if a business spends money to remove either architectural or transportation barriers, the business can take a tax deduction for those expenses. For example, if a business creates accessible parking spaces in customer parking lots, makes an accessible path of travel from the parking lot to the entrance, installs curb ramps, widens doorways – - those are the kinds of barrier removal activities that might fall under this tax incentive provision. The tax deduction can’t be used for new construction or even as part of an ongoing alteration. But otherwise, this tax deduction is available to all businesses and it is an annual deduction that can used every year for up to ,000 in covered expenses.
The other tax law I mentioned earlier is the Disabled Access tax credit. This one applies to businesses with 30 or fewer employees, or businesses which had less than one million dollars in gross operating revenue the previous year. The tax credit can also be used for barrier removal, but unlike that other provision, this tax credit can also be used to provide effective communication with customers with disabilities, such as the Deaf. As an example, if a lawyer has a client who is Deaf coming in for an appointment and the client needs an ASL interpreter in order to have effective communication with the lawyer, then the expense of the interpreter could become a tax credit.
For employers, it could include providing assistive technology or adaptive equipment for employees with disabilities. If an employer buys screen reading software to allow a blind employee to access a computer, that expense could also become a tax credit.
The tax credit is a little more complicated than the deduction. It doesn’t apply to the first 0 of expenses, then it applies to 50% of the expenses over that, up to a maximum of ,250.
The good news is that you can use both the tax credit and the tax deduction if the expenses and the businesses qualify for both. If you have questions about these two tax laws, you can call the IRS at 1.800.829.1040 or visit their website at www.irs.gov.
I hope you enjoyed watching this ASL video podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. You can subscribe for free through iTunes or by going to ASL.DisabilityLawLowdown.com
The Disability Law Lowdown is sponsored by a network of ten ADA Centers around the country. The ADA Centers provide training and technical assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act and other disability-related laws. You can call us at 1-800-949-4232 (V/TTY). The ADA Centers are supported by NIDRR.
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