The $1 per gallon tax credit for biodiesel blenders is due to expire at the end of the year, along with four dozen tax breaks that were extended for a year or two by law makers. Biofuel and farm groups signed a letter asking Congress for a multiyear extension before it adjourns for fall campaigning, said DTN.
“If Congress doesn’t act soon, it would mark the fifth time in eight years that Congress has allowed the biodiesel incentive to expire while at the same time tax breaks for oil and gas production are written permanently into the tax code,” Anne Steckel of the National Biodiesel Board told DTN. “We could be seeing tremendous growth and hiring in this industry but instead biodiesel producers will be sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what happens.”
The tax credit was created in 2004 to encourage development of the renewable fuel. The Biodiesel Board says domestic production totaled 1.42 billion gallons last year, in line with 1.47 billion gallons in 2014 and 1.5 billion gallons in 2013. The trade group says “subsidized, predatory imports” are taking a share of the market. It has suggested converting the blender credit into a producer credit so only U.S. companies could collect it.