My father was a tax executive for a New York City bank. After an hour of trying to decipher what the details of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 could mean for CIOs, I am glad I chose a career in tech publishing.For CIOs, the bill offers key provisions intended to stimulate business investment by accelerating the first-year depreciation they can claim on certain assets purchased after May 5, 2003, and before Jan. 1, 2005, to 50 percent, up from the current level of 30 percent.The qualified property list of those assets is long and eclectic. It includes off-road trucks, breeding hogs, taxis, private aircraft, copiers and, anachronistically, typewriters. And in the three-, five- and seven-year property depreciation category are items near and dear to the hearts and budgets of CIOs?namely, computers and peripheral equipment, computer-based equipment for telephone central office switching, cell phones and furniture.What about software? That’s in the bill too, but it is covered in a less straightforward manner than the previously mentioned items. The bill offers the 50 percent first-year depreciation allowance for off-the-shelf software, a category defined as software readily available for purchase by the general public. However, if a CIO were considering the purchase of a CRM software package for deployment to all or a substantial part of the business, that software purchase would not qualify for the 50 percent write-off. So it seems you could upgrade 1,000 seats of Microsoft Office and take the 50 percent accelerated-depreciation benefit because you could buy Office off the shelf at a retailer but not if you bought a major ERP package from SAP for your enterprise (after all, you couldn’t purchase it at Wal-Mart).One clever executive I spoke with asked this: Could a CIO take a 50 percent accelerated-depreciation charge if he bought Oracle 10g and rolled it out to a 10,000-employee division of a company of 100,000 employees? Hmm, good question. Would one-tenth of a firm’s employee base be perceived as a “substantial” portion of the business? If you have read this far, you are now at least aware of this one-year bonus opportunity. How does it apply to your company? Best to get on the phone with your company’s tax attorney right away. It could be a great way to stretch tight budgets in 2004. Related content feature 14 organizations that support LGBTQ+ tech workers Offering networking, mentorship, and career development opportunities, these 14 professional orgs foster community for LGBTQ+ workers in an industry that isn’t always welcoming. By Sarah K. White Jun 06, 2023 9 mins Diversity and Inclusion brandpost ChatGPT and Your Organisation: How to Monitor Usage and Be More Aware of Security Risks By Hayley Salyer Jun 05, 2023 7 mins Chatbots Artificial Intelligence brandpost Who’s paying your data integration tax? Reducing your data integration tax will get you one step closer to value—let’s start today. By Sandrine Ghosh Jun 05, 2023 4 mins Data Management feature 13 essential skills for accelerating digital transformation IT leaders too often find themselves behind on business-critical transformation efforts due to gaps in the technical, leadership, and business skills necessary to execute and drive change. By Stephanie Overby Jun 05, 2023 12 mins Digital Transformation IT Skills Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe