The Circuit of the America’s racetrack, who recently hosted the largest sporting event in Austin history, is poised to get even more preferential treatment from the government—this time from the infamous Fiscal Cliff deal recently passed by Congress.
Thanks to a clause in the Fiscal Cliff deal colloquially known as the “NASCAR loophole,” the Circuit of the America’s racetrack in Austin can expect a lower tax bill this year. Thanks for the new provision, racetracks such as COTA are permitted to “speed up” the way they calculate depreciation, reducing the amount of federal taxes owed in the process.
To their credit, COTA did not lobby for Congress to pass this provision, but it should further grind taxpayers’ gears that the beneficiary of a $29 million corporate welfare handout from the State of Texas is now getting special treatment on top of that from the federal government.
After all, why does a racetrack bringing in more than 117,000 people on race day (the only Formula 1 race in the United States) need a taxpayer-funded subsidy to help pay the bills?
If the new crop of conservative freshmen (and the stable of older conservative veterans) want to be taken seriously in their calls for limited government and free markets, they should take the opportunity to rid the state of crony capitalism once and for all by eliminating all of Texas’ corporate welfare programs.
