Federal Biodiesel Tax Credit Introduced

Senator Charles Grassley, as chair of the Senate Finance Committee, introduced legislation to retroactively reinstate the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax credit that expired December 31, 2017. FUELIowa members have urged the reinstatement of this credit as has the biodiesel community. Also in this legislative proposal would be an extension of the Oil Spill Liability Tax through 2019 (which would not be a retroactive tax). Senator Grassley commented on this effort by stating, “Congress needs to get out of this bad habit of regular retroactive extensions of these tax provisions. The whole point of these federal tax incentives is to encourage certain behaviors, especially investments in alternative energies, energy efficiency and transportation. The best way to do that is ahead of time, not retroactively[.]” The credit is part of the larger Tax Extender and Disaster Relief Act. The act proposes a total of 29 credits, 26 of which are credits that have lapsed since the year 2017. A summary of the bill can be found here and the full text of the bill can be found here. So far, this legislation is a bipartisan effort and there appears to be interest in the House in supporting as well. Hearings on the tax extenders will likely occur this month.