New tax laws

Here's an example of a depreciation deduction;

New business buys a copy machine at $20,000.00. Businesses are allowed to depreciate the value of those machines by 25% per year, so this 25% becomes a deduction from their total income, in this case, the business is allowed to deduct $5,000.00 from their income and not pay any tax on that portion of income.

From the text you gave, it seems that new businesses, until the fifth year, do not get the same deductions as older businesses, so it's harder on these new businesses to compete. Often, the startup of a new business is the hardest time, financially sapeaking.