An umbrella organization of HVAC industry groups is supporting a bipartisan bill that would permit building owners to expense some HVACR equipment on their federal tax bills.

The HVAC Expensing and Technology Act — aka the HEAT Act — was introduced by U.S. Reps. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) and Ron Kind (D-Wis.). If passed it, would allow commercial building owners to deduct the full purchase price of HVAC equipment bought during the year under section 179 of the U.S. tax code.

It’s backed by the HVACR Alliance, whose members include the Air Conditioning Contractors of America; Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute; Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International; ASHRAE; North American Technician Excellence; Heating, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Institute of Canada; National Air Filtration Association; Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Contractors; Sheet Metal & Air Conditioning Contractors National Association; and the Refrigeration Service Engineers Society.

“I am pleased to see members of Congress moving forward on this important issue,” said ACCA President-CEO Paul Stalknecht. “It is time for the federal government to recognize the realistic lifespan of commercial HVACR equipment and adjust the depreciation schedule accordingly.  Encouraging building owners to replace outdated, inefficient and failing equipment is a win-win for our national energy policy and building owners. ACCA and the HVACR Industry Alliance looks forward to helping advance this legislation and correcting the 2015 PATH Act.”

Stephen Yurek of the AHRI, which represents most of the major manufacturers of HVAC construction equipment, said the bill will benefit the nation.

“By allowing our members’ products to be treated as capital equipment, this bill will save energy for the nation and money for building owners who currently are prohibited from expensing this equipment under Section 179,” Yurek said.  “We have been working with Congress on this issue for many years, and this is a good first step toward encouraging installation of today’s highly energy-efficient HVACR equipment manufactured by our member companies.”

HARDI CEO Talbot Gee thanked the Congress members sponsoring the bill.

“We are truly grateful that Reps. Tiberi and Kind have stepped up to the plate in bipartisan fashion with common-sense legislation which will better allow our entire industry to more effectively deliver cost and energy savings to building owners,” he said.