The One Big Beautiful Bill Act: three provisions that changed the math.
The short answer
On July 4, 2025, the President signed Public Law 119-21, popularly called the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, into law. Three provisions matter most for business owners: it made 100% bonus depreciation permanent for qualifying property placed in service after January 19, 2025, it restored the immediate deduction of domestic R&D costs (electable back to the 2022 tax year), and it created a new tip-income deduction through 2028 plus an expanded payroll tax credit for employers in tipped industries. Most eligible businesses have not yet claimed any of it.
Federal tax law rarely hands business owners a clean, retroactive win. This one did, on three fronts at once, and it happened quietly enough that most eligible businesses have not acted on it. Here is what actually changed, in plain terms.
Three provisions, three audiences
1. Bonus depreciation made permanent at 100%
For several years, the deduction businesses could take immediately on qualifying property, like interior building improvements, lighting, flooring, HVAC, and signage, had been phasing down instead of applying in full the year the cost was incurred. This law restores it to 100%, permanently, for qualifying property placed in service after January 19, 2025, no sunset date. For a commercial property owner, this is the provision that supercharges a cost segregation study: components reclassified into short depreciation lives can often be deducted in full immediately, instead of spread over years.
2. R&D expensing restored
A 2022 rule had forced businesses to spread the deduction of domestic research and development costs over five years instead of writing them off immediately. This law reverses that: businesses can elect the immediate deduction retroactively back to the 2022 tax year, and from 2025 forward it applies without a special election. Read the full guide to R&D tax credits →
3. A new tip-income deduction, and an expanded FICA tip credit
This is the provision most capital-recovery coverage misses. Through 2028, the law lets tipped employees deduct up to $25,000 of tip income from federal taxable income (the deduction phases out above $150,000 single / $300,000 joint income), and it expands the FICA Tip Credit, which lets employers recapture payroll taxes paid on employee tips, to personal-service industries beyond food and beverage: salons, spas, and similar tipped occupations now qualify alongside restaurants.
Why the timing matters
Each provision runs on its own clock, and mixing them up is the easiest way to leave money behind. Bonus depreciation is now permanent, no expiration to plan around, but it only reaches property placed in service after January 19, 2025. R&D expensing can be claimed retroactively back to the 2022 tax year. The tip deduction and its FICA credit run through 2028. That mix, some relief reaching backward and some running forward with no sunset, is unusual, and it is exactly why acting now rather than waiting matters: the further back a business waits to review its position, the more paperwork and reconstruction a retroactive claim requires.
The part that is easy to get wrong
None of these provisions are self-executing. Determining which assets actually qualify for bonus depreciation, whether specific technical work meets the R&D definition, and how to correctly calculate a tip credit against payroll all require a specialist review, not a guess from a general tax preparer working from memory. The incentives are real. The eligibility rules are detailed. Both things are true at once.
How Tappmedia fits
Donald Tapper works with Growth Management Group (GMG), a national tax-incentive firm with roots going back over 19 years, as a local incentive specialist connecting New York-area businesses to a review of what this law actually means for their specific numbers. We do not perform the technical study. Our role is strategic connection: we help you see whether the opportunity is real, introduce you to the specialist, and stay in the conversation through delivery, collaborative with your CPA. As disclosed above, we are paid a referral fee if you engage them.
Common questions
What is the One Big Beautiful Bill Act?
It is the common name for Public Law 119-21, a federal tax law signed on July 4, 2025. Among other things, it restored 100% bonus depreciation for qualifying property, restored the immediate deduction of domestic research and development costs, and created a new federal income tax deduction for tip income along with an expanded payroll tax credit for employers.
Can I claim these benefits for past years?
Several provisions apply retroactively, in some cases back to 2023, and certain windows extend through 2028. Which years you can reach back to depends on the specific provision, your entity type, and your records. A specialist review with your CPA determines exactly what you can still claim.
Does the tip income deduction and FICA tip credit only apply to restaurants?
Restaurants are the most obvious beneficiary, but the provisions reach any employer in a tipped occupation, which can include salons, spas, hospitality venues, and other service businesses where employees customarily receive tips. Eligibility depends on the specific occupation and payroll structure.
Is Tappmedia paid for referring the specialist who reviews these incentives?
Yes. Donald Tapper and Tappmedia NYC are independent referral representatives for Growth Management Group (GMG) and may earn a referral fee if you engage them. It costs you nothing extra, and the analysis is performed by the specialist, not by Tappmedia.
Referral disclosure: Donald Tapper and Tappmedia NYC are independent referral representatives for Growth Management Group (GMG) and may receive a referral fee if you engage them, at no additional cost to you. This article is general information about Public Law 119-21, not tax, legal, or accounting advice, and it does not create an advisor-client relationship. Effective dates, qualifying windows, and eligibility rules vary by provision and by your specific facts; your CPA and the specialist partner confirm what applies to you. Outcomes are not guaranteed. Consult a qualified professional before acting.