House Ways And Means Hearing On Tax Extenders

On April 8, 2014, House Committee on Ways and Means Chair Dave Camp (R-MI) held a hearing on the "Benefits of Permanent Tax Policy for America's Job Creators." The hearing focused on the expiring business tax provisions that are made permanent or extended under Camp's recently released discussion draft of the "Tax Reform Act of 2014" (TRA). Unlike his Senate counterpart — Senate Committee on Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR) — Camp is not very supportive of passing a tax extender package to extend retroactively the approximately 50 incentives that expired at the end of 2013, including several for advanced biofuels development. In fact, the TRA would eliminate most clean energy incentives. The House Ways and Means Hearing Advisory is available online.

Last week, the Senate Finance Committee approved its version of tax extender legislation, the "Expiring Provisions Improvement Reform and Efficiency (EXPIRE) Act." The EXPIRE Act includes extensions through December 31, 2015 (and retroactive to January 1, 2014) of the following key biofuels incentives that have expired: the Alternative Fuel Refueling Property Credit; 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 EXPIRE Act is available online. A summary of the bill is available online.

Whether a tax extenders package will pass this year depends on several factors. It is likely to be more difficult to pass in the House of Representatives than in the Senate.