US Senate approves biodiesel tax incentive

The tax has been retroactively extended through 2011
The US Senate has approved the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010. The legislation retroactively extends the biodiesel tax incentive through 2011.

‘The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) is pleased by the Senate’s vote to retroactively extend the biodiesel tax incentive,’ said Manning Feraci, NBB VP of federal affairs. ‘This will help ensure that the nation reaps the job creation, energy security and environmental benefits associated with the expanded domestic production and use of biodiesel in the coming year.’

The biodiesel tax incentive makes the cost of biodiesel competitive with conventional diesel in the marketplace but the lapse of the tax incentive on 31 December last year has had a negative effect on the US biodiesel industry. However the retroactive reinstatement and extension of the tax incentive through 2011 is expected to increase US biodiesel production, displacing foreign petrol.

The US House of Representatives will now be forwarded the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 for further consideration. The US House must also approve the legislation prior to President Obama signing it.

‘The NBB urges the US House to pass this tax package before adjourning for the year,’ Feraci concluded.