a) It allows no nuance

… a) It allows no nuance. If I worked for 4 months on a game that I expected to have zero sales outside the first year, I think it's silly to call that a capital asset in any real way. Not all software dev work makes capital assets. The janitor at the Ford factory doesn't get his salary expense amortized, nor should the bug fixer. b) It's all taking effect in this year. Could have switched it gradually over 10 years or something (you need to amortize x% in year 1, 2x% in year 2, etc) c) It's especially tough on small businesses. Microsoft can borrow the cash and make it clear in financial statements that this is a weird tax rule, but according to GAAP/accounting rules it's fine. But a sudden big tax bill is really tough for years 1, 2, 3 of a small business.