It's Official: Camp's Tax Proposal Would Limit Expensing of Ad Costs

In his long-awaited plan to overhaul the federal tax code, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman David Camp (R-MI) offered advertisers and the advertising industry a $1 million loophole to his proposal to limit the expensing of advertising costs. But Camp's tax plan was greeted with dismay by those who buy and sell ads.

"This is a dreadful idea," said Dick O'Brien, a top lobbyist for the American Association of Advertising Agencies. "What he's doing will make advertising more expensive.” Chairman Camp's plan would limit the expensing of advertising costs to 50% the first year with the amortization of the rest over 10 years. But the Michigan Republican said he'd be willing to exempt the first $1 million in ad expenses. "That's almost meaningless," O'Brien said. "It's a token. Most big businesses spend tens of millions or hundreds of millions of dollars in advertising each year."