Dealer News

Natalie Higgins, VP of Government Relations with the Equipment Dealers Association along with Nick Sinner of the Minnesota South Dakota Equipment Dealers Association and Will Rogers of the Iowa Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association conducted a series of meetings in November on Capitol Hill pushing for a multi-year extension of Section 179 and Bonus Depreciation.  

The group used these meetings to emphasize negative impact that the instability of Section 179 and Bonus Depreciation has had on the industry. Lawmakers were, by and large, supportive of these tax provisions and confident that Section 179 and Bonus Depreciation would both be passed as part of an Omnibus Tax Bill on or about December 11, 2015. That said, lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, were unsure if the provisions would simply be retroactive for 2015 or if they would be extended beyond that time period. 

To complicate matters, earlier in November President Obama made a public statement that he would veto any bill with a permanent extension of Section 179 and Bonus Depreciation which did not also include a plethora of additional tax cuts for individuals. While some lawmakers with whom the group met are still optimistic that Section 179 and/or Bonus Depreciation could be made permanent as part of the December 11, 2015 Omnibus Bill, the requirement that additional “personal” tax credits must also be extended permanently may be a “deal breaker” for some lawmakers.

Oregon Trail Equipment formed in 2003 when three Deere dealerships came together. It employs 410 people in south central Nebraska and north central Kansas.  LandMark Implement started as a family-owned business in 1947. It has since grown to include nine more locations in Nebraska and Kansas.