HB 255 Delaware House · 153rd General Assembly (2025-2026)

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 30 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO CORPORATE AND PERSONAL INCOME TAX.

Summary
This Act decouples select provisions of Delaware’s tax code from provisions of Public Law 119-21, also known as the federal “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA). Absent legislative action, most provisions of federal tax law are automatically incorporated into Delaware’s tax law. This Act does not eliminate depreciation of property or expensing, but instead modifies the timing of deductions that were impacted by the OBBBA. For corporations taxed as separate entities, commonly called “C corporations,” this Act does the following: (1) Continues expensing provisions for domestic research and experimental expenditures made after December 31, 2021, but on or before December 31, 2025, under the provisions in place before the OBBBA. (2) Decouples from the OBBBA provision for full expensing of certain business property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025. (3) Decouples from the special depreciation allowance for qualified production property. For individuals with business income such as an S corporation or a partnership, the following changes are made to Delaware’s personal income tax code, beginning January 1, 2026: (1) Decoupling from the OBBBA allowance for full expensing for certain business property acquired and placed in service after December 31, 2025. (2) Decoupling from the special depreciation allowance for qualified production property acquired and placed in service after December 31, 2025.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Nov 2025
Committee Review
Nov 2025
House Passage
Nov 2025
Senate Passage
Nov 2025
Signed into Law
Nov 2025
Introduced Nov 5, 2025 Signed Nov 19, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

HA 3 to HB 255 Bill Text · 5 edits
MODERATE
The bill transitions from House Amendment No. 3 (which added a January 1, 2031 sunset and a DEFAC report requirement) to the final enrolled Bill Text. The final version removes the DEFAC report mandate, adds personal income tax decoupling provisions effective January 1, 2026, formalizes effective dates, and restructures the sunset language. The R&D expensing provision now has an explicit end date of December 31, 2025 rather than the 2031 sunset being added by HA 3.
Scope change
The bill's scope expands to include personal income tax decoupling under Section 1106 for individuals with business income (S corporations, partnerships), effective January 1, 2026. The DEFAC reporting obligation is removed. The sunset timing for R&D expensing is shortened from the 2031 date proposed in HA 3 to December 31, 2025.
ENFORCEMENT

The requirement for the Department of Finance to present a report at the December 2027 DEFAC meeting regarding revenue impact and recommendations on bonus depreciation continuance is removed from the final bill.

SCOPE

New Section 2 amends Section 1106 (personal income tax) to decouple from OBBBA full expensing and qualified production property provisions for individuals with business income, effective January 1, 2026. This extends the bill's reach beyond C corporations to S corporation and partnership owners.

Sponsorship expanded from a single sponsor (Rep. Harris) to a bipartisan group including multiple senators and representatives, indicating broader legislative support for the final version.

TIMELINE

The sunset structure changes: HA 3 was inserting 'and before January 1, 2031' into multiple provisions. The final text instead uses a specific end date of December 31, 2025 for R&D expensing and does not include the explicit 2031 sunset language in the statutory text shown.

TECHNICAL

Section 3 formalizes effective dates: Section 1 applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2022; Section 2 is effective January 1, 2026. Section 4 adds a standard severability clause.

Floor votes · House Nov 13, 2025

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
13
Key actions
7
Committee
2
Amendments
6
Nov 19, 2025
Signed into law
Signed by Governor
executive
Nov 19, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed By Senate. Votes: 14 YES 6 NO 1 ABSENT
upper
Nov 19, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported Out of Committee (Executive) in Senate with 4 On Its Merits
upper
Nov 13, 2025
Introduced
Assigned to Executive Committee in Senate
upper
Nov 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed By House. Votes: 26 YES 13 NO 2 ABSENT
lower
Nov 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Amendment HA 3 to HB 255 - Passed By House. Votes: 36 YES 3 NOT VOTING 2 ABSENT
lower
Nov 13, 2025
Introduced
Amendment HA 3 to HB 255 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
lower
Nov 13, 2025
Lower · Passed
Amendment HA 2 to HB 255 - Passed By House. Votes: 37 YES 2 NOT VOTING 2 ABSENT
lower
Nov 13, 2025
Introduced
Amendment HA 1 to HB 255 - Stricken in House
lower
Nov 12, 2025
Introduced
Amendment HA 2 to HB 255 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
lower
Nov 12, 2025
Introduced
Amendment HA 1 to HB 255 - Introduced and Placed With Bill
lower
Nov 7, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported Out of Committee (Administration) in House with 3 On Its Merits
lower
Nov 5, 2025
Introduced
Introduced and Assigned to Administration Committee in House
lower
15 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors