U.S. firms outside of the finance industry held more than $1.64 trillion in cash reserves at the end of 2013 – a historic high and an increase of 12 percent from the year before. With such large cash piles sitting on corporate balance sheets and an improving economy, analysts deemed 2014 to be the start of a corporate spending spree. However, 2013 also marked the end of bonus depreciation – an important tax incentive intended to spur business investment. So how have businesses responded to this recent tax policy change and the growing economy?

A new study conducted by Bloomberg BNA sought to understand just that. Bloomberg BNA surveyed 100 tax and accounting leaders at firms with average revenues of $7.5 billion to find out how U.S. businesses’ capital investment has changed since the recession, and to what degree changes in tax policy actually impact their financial decision making.

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