Permanently extending all 26 tax provisions that expired at the end of 2017 that are currently in play would reduce federal revenue by about $92.5 billion over the coming decade, according to a Congressional Research Service analysis based on Joint Committee on Taxation estimates.
Most costly of the lapsed provisions is a $1.00 per gallon tax credit for the sale of biodiesel. “There is enormous public benefit to home-grown, renewable clean energy,” said Kurt Kovarick, vice president of federal affairs for the National Biodiesel Board, a trade association. “Without that credit, we would not have the support to grow the industry. We don’t want to remain at two percent to three percent of the market.”
The biodiesel credit is an expensive proposition for some, above $3 billion per year. Permanently extending the credit would cost an estimated $35.2 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Research Service.
One of the key players in creating the biodiesel credit as chairman of the tax-writing Finance Committee in 2004, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters Tuesday that extending it was one of his top lame duck priorities. "There some important provisions that need to be dealt with, and the one that I’m most interested in is the biodiesel tax credit,” said Grassley, who is in line to become Finance chairman once again if he decides to leave his top slot on Judiciary.