Fiscal Cliff Deal Includes $70M NASCAR Tax Credit

UPDATE The NASCAR racing series, which is based in Daytona Beach, will receive a $70 million break in the new deal, higher than the $40 million originally thought.

According to a report by ABC News, the money comes as an extension of a “seven-year cost recovery period for certain motorsports racing track facilities."

The $70 million price tag is an estimate of lost tax revenue if current tax credits, which are scheduled to expire, are extended for a year.

The racing industry isn't the only eyebrow-raising benefactor of the fiscal cliff deal, as Hollywood movie producers, Puerto Rican rum makers and even algae growers are getting some breaks in the deal.

01/01/13 The "fiscal cliff" deal reached by the Senate and the White House on New Year's Eve, and passed in legislative form by the Senate early New Year's Day, includes many giveaways to special interests–including an extension of a perk enjoyed by "motorsports entertainment complexes" otherwise known as the "NASCAR tax credit."

The provision, under section 168(i)(15) of the federal tax code, allows speedways to write off their costs over seven years. Typically, such expensing occurs over a much longer period of time, from 15 to 39 years. The cost of the NASCAR tax credit to taxpayers has been estimated at some $40 million–over and above any tax incentives provided by state and local authorities.

Pork barrel politics at its best.