§44 Expenditures to Provide Access to Disabled Individuals

Summary

Gives eligible small businesses a tax credit equal to 50% of qualifying expenses for making their business accessible to people with disabilities. The credit applies only to the part of those expenses that is more than $250 and not more than $10,250 for the year. A business can use the credit if last year its gross receipts were $1,000,000 or less, or if it had no more than 30 full-time employees last year and it chooses to claim the credit. A full-time employee is one who works at least 30 hours a week for 20 or more weeks in the year. Qualifying expenses are amounts paid to meet the Americans With Disabilities Act rules, such as removing barriers, buying or changing equipment, or paying for interpreters and readers. Expenses must be reasonable, must meet standards set by the tax official with help from the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board, and do not cover barrier removal for a facility first used after the law took effect. Businesses in a controlled group count as one for the limit, partnerships and S corporations follow special rules, gross receipts exclude returns and allowances, and you cannot both take this credit and also deduct the same expense or raise the property’s tax basis. The tax official will issue rules to carry this out.