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On August 24, 2016, Brazil's government announced that it would not be extending a tax break on ethanol sales that is due to expire in December 2016. During the 2015 Paris Climate Accord, Brazil pledged to increase cane-based ethanol and biodiesel to nearly 18 percent of its total energy mix by 2030, requiring an increase in annual ethanol production from 30 billion liters in 2015/2016 to 50 billion liters in 2030. The loss of the...

On July 6, 2016, Hawaii Governor David Ige signed SB 2652 Related to Taxation — Locally Produced Renewable Energy. This bill establishes a five-year renewable fuels production tax credit. The tax credit will take effect in 2017 and will provide 20 cents per gallon of ethanol (or 76,000 British thermal units (Btu) of renewable fuel) with a cap of $3 million. The tax credit is open to companies producing at least 15 billion Btu of...

On June 15, 2016, H.R. 5489, Agriculture Environmental Stewardship Act of 2016, was introduced to the House Ways and Means Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. The bill would add additional biogas applications to the list of technologies that qualify for the federal Section 45 energy investment tax credit, increasing acceptable biogas technologies from only biogas-based electricity projects to "qualified biogas property" defined as: property comprising a system which–...

On May 24, 2016, Iowan Governor Terry Branstad signed Senate File 2309, an Act providing for tax credits and refunds relating to renewable fuels including their component biofuels and including effective date provisions. The bill extends a state biodiesel production tax credit providing 2 cents per gallon (cpg) on the first 25 million gallons of production per biodiesel plant. The bill also extends a credit for petroleum retailers of 4.5 cpg on blends of 5...

On November 10, 2015, Senator Stabenow (D-MI), along with Senators Coons (D-DE) and Franken (D-MN), introduced S. 2271, the Renewable Chemicals Act of 2015 to the Senate. If passed, the bill would amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create short-term tax credits for the production of renewable chemicals and for investments in renewable chemical production facilities. Producing eligible renewable chemicals from biomass feedstock would result in a tax credit of 15 cents per...

On June 17, 2015, the Australian government made a bipartisan agreement to tax Australian-produced biodiesel and ethanol. Cleaner fuel grants for renewable and biobased diesel fuels will end by July 1, 2015, as will the Ethanol production grant. An excise rate on biodiesel will be phased in starting in 2015-2016 at zero percent, and will increase annually, eventually reaching 50 percent of the diesel excise rate in 2030-2031. The Biofuels Association of Australia approved of...

On September 18, 2014, Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Dave Loebsack (D-IA), along with 16 other Members of Congress, introduced H.R. 5559, the Bridge to a Clean Energy Future Act of 2014. A copy of Representative Blumenauer's statement on the bill is available online. H.R. 5559 is the House counterpart to S. 2260, the Expiring Provisions Improvement Reform and Efficiency (EXPIRE) Act. The package of tax extenders was approved by the Senate Finance Committee in...

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...

On April 3, 2014, the Senate Committee on Finance marked up its version of a tax extenders package, 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...

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...