Congress recently passed the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. It's designed to inject $152 billion into the U.S economy. What does this mean to you?

If you own a business, your business can take advantage of two tax breaks: Increased Section 179 Amounts and Bonus Depreciation.

You could be one of the 130 million taxpayers who will receive a rebate check this year. For more on this tax relief topic, please see my recent article: "Is The IRS Sending You a Rebate Check? Find Out If You Are Eligible."

If you own real estate or invest in real estate, your may find some relief with your "jumbo" loans.

INCREASED SECTION 179 AMOUNTS:

Before the new law, a business could expense up to $128,000 of the cost of qualifying property in 2008. Under the new law, a business can expense up to $250,000 of the cost of qualifying property. This is a huge increase!

Even the phase-out limits are increased. Before the new law, if the cost of qualified property placed in service during the year was more than $510,000, the amount a business could expense was reduced (dollar for dollar) by the amount over $510,000. Under the new law, the dollar for dollar reduction still applies but the old $510,000 ceiling jumps to $800,000.

What property qualifies for the Section 179 Deduction? The new law makes no changes to the general rules for the types of property that are eligible for Section 179 expensing. Generally, the property must be depreciable tangible personal property (so real property, such as land and buildings, does not qualify) that is actively used in the taxpayer's business. The property must be used more than 50 percent for business and must be newly purchased property.

BONUS DEPRECIATION:

The other incentive is bonus depreciation. The new law provides qualifying taxpayers 50 percent first-year bonus depreciation of the adjusted basis of qualifying property. Make sure you make the election on your tax return - it's required in order to claim the bonus depreciation.

What property qualifies for bonus depreciation?

To be eligible to claim bonus depreciation, property must be one of the following types of property:

- Eligible for the modified accelerated cost recovery system (MACRS) with a depreciation period of 20 years or less (this includes most equipment, computers and furniture)

- Water utility property

- Computer software (off-the-shelf)

- Qualified leasehold property

The property generally must be purchased and placed in service during 2008. Original use of the property must begin with the taxpayer and must occur after December 31, 2007 and before January 1, 2009.