U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) recently reintroduced S. 1763, the "Motorsports Fairness and Permanency Act," necessary legislation that will help ensure the fiscal viability of race tracks across the nation. The SEMA and PRI-backed legislation would make permanent the seven-year cost recovery period for investments in motorsport entertainment complexes.  

• Click here to send a letter to your members of Congress telling them to support the Motorsports Fairness and Permanency Act and include it in the tax bill currently being negotiated. 
   

S. 1763 is a companion bill to H.R. 2231, which U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) introduced with bipartisan cosponsors earlier this year.   

The tax incentive for race tracks, along with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, is set to expire on December 31, 2025. Without congressional action, race tracks' depreciation period would revert to 39 years. By making the incentive permanent, Congress can provide track owners with much-needed certainty that they can recover the costs of long-term investments on an accelerated basis. 

• SEMA and PRI encourage you to reach out to your members of Congress and urge them to include the Motorsports Fairness and Permanency Act in the tax bill that's currently being negotiated in the House and Senate.  
   

Background: 

The Federal Tax code defines a "motorsports entertainment complex" to mean a race track facility that "(i) is permanently situated on land, and (ii) during the 36-month period following the asset being placed in service, hosts one or more racing events for automobiles (of any type), trucks or motorcycles which are open to the public for the price of admission." 

Accelerated depreciation of investments in a motorsports entertainment complex applies to capital expenditures in a facility's ticket booths, race track surfaces, suites and hospitality facilities, grandstands and viewing structures, props, walls, facilities that support the delivery of entertainment services, other special-purpose structures, facades, shop interiors, and buildings in addition to support facilities (including food and beverage retailing, souvenir vending, and other non-lodging accommodations), parking lots, sidewalks, bridges, fences and landscaping. The tax incentive does not, however, apply to transportation equipment, administrative services assets, warehouses, administrative buildings, hotels or motels. 

For additional information, contact Juan Mejia, SEMA's senior manager for federal government affairs, at juanm@sema.org.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock