NAB Speaks Out Against Proposed Changes To Ad Deductibility

The National Association of Broadcasters Wednesday came out strongly against a new proposal--in a 958-page draft of tax reform legislation--that would affect the deductibility of advertising costs.

Currently, ad expenses are fully deductible in the year they are incurred. The bill would make only half of those ad expenses, including for broadcast time, deductible immediately, with the rest amortized over a 10-year period, though there would be a phase-in to that 50-50 split starting with an 80% deductible-20% amortized split beginning in 2015.

The draft was released Wednesday by the House Ways and Means Committee.

"NAB strongly opposes any job-killing proposal that would limit the ability of thousands of large and small businesses from fully deducting their annual advertising expenses," NAB said.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.