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There's another huge reason the cubicle office is dominant: Cubicles are immediately tax deductible, while building out offices is considered a capital improvem
by SomeCallMeTim 13y ago
There's another huge reason the cubicle office is dominant: Cubicles are immediately tax deductible, while building out offices is considered a capital improvement, and therefore has to be depreciated over a longer period of time.
Tax law all too frequently shapes behavior, and this is one of those cases.
- haliburton 13y agoYikes. I'd never even considered that. Do you have any other (terrifying) examples?
- akgerber 13y agoI have heard it asserted that the reason for poor construction quality of postwar US commercial buildings in their 39-year depreciation life: http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/irs-depreciation-schedule-commercial-real-estate-15798.html http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/irs-depreciation-schedule-... Hence the lack of much brick or stone, built-for-the-ages construction beyond veneers.
- lotu 13y agoHonestly this is horrifying. The idea that companies are making damaging decisions because they have favorable tax benefits and congress probably didn't even realize it. Well that makes me sad.