Posted on March 28, 2014 by Heidi
On March 24, 2014, seven leading biofuel trade associations sent a letter to Senate Committee on Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) -- as the Committee works to develop a tax extenders bill -- urging the retroactive extension of the following biofuel incentives, which expired on December 31, 2013: the Second Generation Biofuel Producer Tax Credit, the Special Depreciation Allowance for Second Generation Biofuel Plant Property, the Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Fuels Credit, and the Alternative Fuel and Alternative Fuel Mixture Excise Tax Credit. A copy of the letter is available online.
The letter stresses that the advanced biofuels industry is at a critical stage of development and is a critical innovation sector that depends on the incentives and their stability for continued development. It also points out that the continued availability of the tax credits is needed to continue to attract development of advanced biofuels and their associated jobs in the U.S.
Posted on February 28, 2014 by Heidi
U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chair Dave Camp (R-MI) and U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) are expected to take different approaches to tax reform this year. Camp has stated publicly his intent to focus solely on comprehensive tax reform, which he and his staff have been working on for over a year. He is expected to release a discussion draft of comprehensive tax reform legislation in the coming months.
Meanwhile, newly designated Chair Wyden has publicly expressed support for the idea of comprehensive tax reform, but is expected to focus his near term efforts on passing legislation retroactively to extend several renewable energy incentives that expired at the end of 2013. These incentives include tax credits for the production of biofuels, including cellulosic and biodiesel. Senate Finance Committee Members Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) have recently introduced legislation to extend the expired $1 per gallon biodiesel incentive, which could be included in a more comprehensive tax extender package.
Given this election year, as well as the divergent approaches of the two Chairmen of the tax writing committees, it will likely be difficult to get comprehensive tax reform legislation and possibly even a tax extender package passed in 2014.
Posted on February 21, 2014 by Heidi
On February 13, 2014, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA) introduced S. 2021, a bill to extend and reform the $1 per-gallon biodiesel tax credit that expired on December 31, 2013. The bill would extend this credit for three years through 2017. It would provide a $1 per-gallon tax credit for the production of biodiesel, renewable diesel, and aviation jet fuel that complies with fuel standards and the Clean Air Act. The bill would modify the definition of biodiesel to encourage production from any biomass-based feedstock, or recycled oils and fats. It would increase the credit to $1.10 per-gallon for the first 15 million gallons of biodiesel produced by small producers with an annual production capacity of less than 60 million gallons. In addition, the bill would restrict the credit to fuel producers to ensure the credit goes to domestic biodiesel production and to prevent eligibility of fuel blenders that could potentially add a very small amount of biodiesel to petroleum diesel (a practice known as "splash and dash") to qualify.
This bill would likely be added to a larger tax extender package that new Senate Committee on Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) has said he is interested in moving through the Committee in the near future. It would be significant for the biodiesel industry, which produced .7 billion gallons more in 2013 when the biodiesel tax credit was available than in 2012 when Congress let the credit expire.
Posted on January 10, 2014 by Heidi
Several incentives designed to encourage renewable energy development and production, including the $1 per gallon tax credit for biodiesel producers and the $1.01 per gallon credit for cellulosic ethanol production, expired on December 31, 2013. Should extenders be considered, it is likely these two credits will be extended and likely retroactively. Although given election year politics and ongoing budget battles, if and when this happens is tougher to predict. In the short term, one legislative vehicle could be legislation to increase the debt limit expected to pass later this winter or early spring. Some argue Congress may not consider any tax extender package until later this year after the November elections.
The biofuels industry is working hard to press Congress quickly to take up and pass a tax extender package. The biodiesel and cellulosic producer tax credits are considered essential parts of the suite of current policies designed to promote the industry.
Posted on November 22, 2013 by Heidi
This week, the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation released its score of S. 795, the Master Limited Partnerships Parity Act, a bi-partisan bill introduced by Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) earlier this year. The Committee estimated that the bill would cost $1.3 billion over ten years. Reportedly, Senator Coons welcomed the score and has committed to trying to find an offset or spending cut to pay for it. The Chair of the Senate Finance Committee's Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure, Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), has publicly stated her support for the legislation, which helps the bill's chances for passage.
S. 795 would amend the Internal Revenue Code, with respect to the tax treatment of publicly traded partnerships as corporations, to expand the definition of "qualifying income" for such partnerships to include income and gains from renewable and alternative fuels and energy derived from renewable fuels and chemicals, as well as other types of alternative energy. Master Limited Partnerships (MLP) has been used by the fossil fuels industry since the 1980s as a successful way to attract capital and the renewable energy industry hopes to do the same. Representative Ted Poe (R-TX) has introduced a companion bill, H.R. 1696, in the House of Representatives.
Posted on November 15, 2013 by Heidi
On November 12, 2013, 17 "green groups," including Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, and the League of Conservation Voters, sent a letter to the leaders of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance urging the extension of several tax incentives designed to promote investment in the development of clean energy. For instance, the letter urges the extension of the 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit, which provides an investment tax credit of up to 30 percent of qualified investment in a qualifying advanced energy project, which is defined to be a project that establishes, expands, or re-equips a manufacturing facility for the production of certain types of property, including property designed to refine or blend renewable fuels or to produce energy conservation technologies.
Several tax incentives designed to help encourage renewable energy production are set to expire at the end of the year.
Posted on November 08, 2013 by Heidi
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released an advice memorandum from the agency's Office of Chief Counsel determining that "y electing the § 6426(c) excise tax credit [biodiesel mixture credit] and/or the § 6427(e) excise tax payment instead of the § 40A income tax credit, a blender is not required by § 87 or by § 61 to include in its gross income the amount of the § 6426(c) excise tax credits and/or the § 6427(e) payments that it claims." A copy of the memorandum is available online.
Posted on September 19, 2013 by Heidi
On September 12, 2013, Representative Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) introduced H.R. 3084, the "Qualifying Renewable Chemical Production Tax Credit Act," to provide tax parity for the renewable chemical industry in the United States. Along with Representative Pascrell, the original co-sponsors of the bi-partisan bill are Representatives Steve Stockman (R-TX), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), and Richard Neal (D-MA).
Essentially, the bill would extend the current production tax credit (PTC) for cellulosic biofuels to producers of renewable chemicals. It would provide a PTC of 15 cents per pound of eligible renewable content, but it caps the benefit at $500 million and a single producer may not receive more than $25 million in a tax year. A copy of the legislation is available online. Representative Pascrell has stated publicly that he hopes the legislation will help incentivize the U.S. production of renewable chemicals and help develop the industry here in the United States.
|
