Daily News Update, Feb. 15, 2008

President signs economic stimulus bill

President Bush signed H.R. 5140, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 Feb. 13. The Senate voted late last Thursday to add key elements to the House stimulus plan, and the House quickly approved these changes sending the bill to the President's desk.

Within the new bill, cattlemen will benefit from small business tax improvements such as a near-doubling of the Section 179 deduction limitations (from $128,000 to $250,000), as well as a significant increase (from $510,000 to $800,000) in the phase-out threshold.

The package also includes helpful enhancements to bonus depreciation, although the proposed language regarding Net Operating Loss (NOL) carry back rules was removed from the final bill.