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A proposal that would allow U.S. companies to immediately write off capital investments, part of a sweeping tax-reform plan announced by the White House last week, could put Canadian companies at a further disadvantage to their southern counterparts, tax experts say.

White House officials laid out their plans to overhaul the U.S. tax system in a nine-page document Sept. 27.

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The document includes a proposal to significantly accelerate capital cost allowances for corporations, allowing U.S. firms to immediately deduct capital expenses for items such as computers, heavy machinery and other non-structure investments.

This is maybe even more powerful than the corporate income tax changes

The immediate write-offs would effectively create an up-front tax break on asset purchases, freeing up cash flows for U.S. companies compared to Canadian firms that deduct capital investments over many years.

The document called the modification an “unprecedented level of expensing with respect to the duration and scope of eligible assets,” and tax experts say the change — if successfully passed — would mark one of the biggest structural shifts in U.S. tax policy in decades.