[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 844 Introduced in House (IH)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 844

    To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a shorter 
recovery period for the depreciation of certain leasehold improvements.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 24, 1999

 Mr. Shaw (for himself, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. English, 
Mrs. Thurman, Mr. Sam Johnson of Texas, Mr. Foley, Mr. Weller, and Mr. 
Canady of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
                    the Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a shorter 
recovery period for the depreciation of certain leasehold improvements.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. RECOVERY PERIOD FOR DEPRECIATION OF CERTAIN LEASEHOLD 
              IMPROVEMENTS.

    (a) 10-Year Recovery Period.--Subparagraph (D) of section 168(e)(3) 
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to 10-year property) is 
amended by striking ``and'' at the end of clause (i), by striking the 
period at the end of clause (ii) and inserting ``, and'', and by adding 
at the end the following new clause:
                            ``(iii) any qualified leasehold improvement 
                        property.''.
    (b) Qualified Leasehold Improvement Property.--Subsection (e) of 
section 168 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph:
            ``(6) Qualified leasehold improvement property.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The term `qualified leasehold 
                improvement property' means any improvement to an 
                interior portion of a building which is nonresidential 
                real property if--
                            ``(i) such improvement is made under or 
                        pursuant to a lease (as defined in subsection 
                        (h)(7))--
                                    ``(I) by the lessee (or any 
                                sublessee) of such portion, or
                                    ``(II) by the lessor of such 
                                portion,
                            ``(ii) such portion is to be occupied 
                        exclusively by the lessee (or any sublessee) of 
                        such portion, and
                            ``(iii) such improvement is placed in 
                        service more than 3 years after the date the 
                        building was first placed in service.
                    ``(B) Certain improvements not included.--Such term 
                shall not include any improvement for which the 
                expenditure is attributable to--
                            ``(i) the enlargement of the building,
                            ``(ii) any elevator or escalator,
                            ``(iii) any structural component benefiting 
                        a common area, and
                            ``(iv) the internal structural framework of 
                        the building.
                    ``(C) Definitions and special rules.--For purposes 
                of this paragraph--
                            ``(i) Commitment to lease treated as 
                        lease.--A commitment to enter into a lease 
                        shall be treated as a lease, and the parties to 
                        such commitment shall be treated as lessor and 
                        lessee, respectively.
                            ``(ii) Related persons.--A lease between 
                        related persons shall not be considered a 
                        lease. For purposes of the preceding sentence, 
                        the term `related persons' means--
                                    ``(I) members of an affiliated 
                                group (as defined in section 1504), and
                                    ``(II) persons having a 
                                relationship described in subsection 
                                (b) of section 267; except that, for 
                                purposes of this clause, the phrase `80 
                                percent or more' shall be substituted 
                                for the phrase `more than 50 percent' 
                                each place it appears in such 
                                subsection.''
    (c) Requirement To Use Straight Line Method.--Paragraph (3) of 
section 168(b) of such Code is amended by adding at the end the 
following new subparagraph:
                    ``(G) Qualified leasehold improvement property 
                described in subsection (e)(6).''.
    (d) Alternative System.--The table contained in section 
168(g)(3)(B) of such Code is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to subparagraph (D)(ii) the following new item:

  ``(D)(iii).........................................      10 ''.      
    (e) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to qualified leasehold improvement property placed in service 
after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>