Ed Hubbard, general counsel of the Renewable Fuels Association, recently testified at a House Ways and Means Committee Tax Policy Subcommittee hearing in support of tax incentives.
At the hearing, Post Tax Reform of Recently Expired Tax Provisions, Hubbard told the subcommittee that tax incentives have been critical to the biofuel industry’s development and growth.
Hubbard urged the subcommittee to extend the Second-Generation Production Tax Credit. The credit applies to certain biofuels as established by the Clean Air Act.
He also encouraged the extension of Accelerated Depreciation rules, a set of IRS regulations that allow businesses to deduct the declining value of business-related investments.
Hubbard said both should be extended at least through the end of the year. Both expired in 2013 and have given several short-term extensions.
“While the U.S. grain-based ethanol industry has matured into an efficient and highly competitive fuel supplier, the second-generation sector is much younger, and has struggled to overcome immense financial and commercial obstacles,” Hubbard said. “However, in recent years, with the help of federal tax incentives, the U.S. second-generation sector has finally been able to actually produce second-generation biofuels at a commercial scale level.”
Hubbard also urged Congress to modify and extend the Alternative Vehicle Refueling Property Credit.