Diminishing Odds for Tax Incentive Extenders

It is unlikely tax provisions will get tacked onto a government funding bill, especially if it is just a stopgap measure, according to senators. If lawmakers decide to pass a continuing resolution, tax provisions likely will not get attached to that, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., told reporters this week. Shelby’s comments come as the House prepares to possibly vote this week on a lame-duck tax package that includes renewals for two expiring tax provisions, known as extenders. One of the provisions would make permanent a tax break for railroad track improvements and another would create a long-term extension and phase out of the biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels credit. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who will head the Senate Finance Committee in the new Congress next year, promised that should the tax incentive measures fail this year, the biodiesel extension will be a high priority for him in 2019.