On Tuesday, the Senate passed a bill that would retroactively extend more than 50 expired tax provisions though 2014. The bill was passed by the House of Representatives on Dec. 3 and is now awaiting a signature from President Barack Obama.

Earlier proposals to permanently extend some of the expired provisions or to extend all provisions for two years (through 2015) were not passed.

Some of the provisions extended by the bill include:

• The research and development (R&D) credit
• First-year bonus depreciation
• Increased Sec. 179 expensing limits

H.R. 5771, known as the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, will temporarily extend a host of expired individual, business and energy tax breaks as well as certain provisions relating to multiemployer defined benefit plans. The bill also includes some technical corrections to prior legislations.

H.R. 5771 also includes the ABLE Act of 2014, which provides for tax-favored accounts that will allow disabled individuals to save money to pay for disability expenses.

Provisions in the ABLE Act include:

• Amending the definition of personal holding company to exclude dividends received by U.S. shareholders from controlled foreign corporations
• Instituting inflation adjustments for certain civil penalties
• Enacting a new Sec. 3511 that allows for certified professional employer organization to be treated as an employer for work-site employees performing services for customers of the organization for employment tax purposes.

For a more detailed list of tax incentives for individuals, businesses and energy taxes, as well as pension plan provision and inflation-adjusted civil penalties, view this article from the Journal of Accountancy. For more information about the Tax Increase Prevision Act of 2014, watch this video from Jack Surgent.