Practical Tips To Help The Hospitality Industry
By the year 2030, 71.5 million Baby Boomers will be over the age of 65 and demanding products, services, and environments that address their age-related physical changes.
“Accessibility attracts not only people with disabilities but also their families and friends. This expands the potential market exponentially!” – U.S. Dept. of Justice
“This group has $175 billion in discretionary spending power.” – U.S. Dept. of Labor
Tax Incentives for ADA Modifications
Businesses can take advantage of two Federal tax incentives available to help cover costs of making access improvements for customers with disabilities:
- A tax credit for small businesses who remove access barriers from their facilities, provide accessible services, or take other steps to improve accessibility for customers with disabilities
- A tax deduction for businesses of all sizes that remove access barriers in their facilities or vehicles
A business that annually incurs eligible expenses to bring itself into compliance with the ADA may use these tax incentives every year.
Example: Hotel ABC spent $20,000 on access improvements by modifying their guest rooms and front entrance. These expenditures qualify under both the tax credit and deduction, so ABC can use these incentives in combination. They may first take a tax credit of $5,000 (based on $10,250 of expenditures) and then deduct $15,000 (the difference between the total expenditures and the amount of the credit claimed).
Readily Achievable Barrier Removal
“We believe that it is important to re-emphasize that determining whether removal of a particular barrier is readily achievable requires a case-by-case assessment that may vary from business to business and sometimes from one year to the next for the same business. If a public accommodation determines that its facilities have barriers that should be removed pursuant to the ADA, but it is not readily achievable to undertake all of the modifications immediately, the Department recommends, as it has for many years, that the public accommodation develop an implementation plan designed to achieve compliance with the ADA’s barrier removal requirements over time. Indeed, the March 15, 2012 effective date for the 2010 Standards reflects an 18-month delay in implementation of the revised requirements, which delay was provided, in part, to allow businesses sufficient time to consider the new requirements while developing plans to meet their on-going barrier removal obligations. Such a plan, if appropriately designed and diligently executed, may well serve as evidence of a good faith effort to comply with the ADA’s barrier removal requirements.”