My understanding is that amortization is the confusing part of the situation OP is asking about. When you have an asset, the cost of it is deducted from income over the useful life. By declaring that it will never be released, the useful life is reduced to zero, allowing them to take the whole tax deduction at once.

They still would have been better off never spending the money. Since they already have, if they have so little cash that they can’t afford their tax bill, it might make sense to throw away future income to stay afloat now.