The Senate Finance Committee held a mark-up earlier this week of a bill to extend certain expired tax provisions, commonly referred to as “tax extenders.” The tax extenders package, which comprises 52 tax provisions and carries a total cost of $95 billion, includes several items strongly supported by the American Soybean Association (ASA), including two year extensions of the higher Section 179 expensing limits, 50 percent bonus depreciation and the dollar-per-gallon biodiesel tax credit.

The draft bill proposed for mark-up by Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) initially included a straight two year extension of the biodiesel blenders tax credit as it was previously structured. During the mark-up, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) sponsored an amendment to shift the biodiesel tax credit from a blenders credit to a production tax credit beginning in 2016. The amendment passed on a voice vote without opposition.

Other amendments were proposed to make some of the temporary tax provisions permanent, including the Section 179 expensing limits and 50% bonus depreciation, but those amendments were deferred or withdrawn.

The overall tax extenders bill was passed by the committee by a vote of 23-3 and now awaits consideration by the full Senate, and could potentially be combined with the Highway Bill or other high priority legislation.

Additional information on the tax extenders bill can be viewed on the Senate Finance Committee website by clicking here. ASA will keep you updated as the tax extenders package moves forward.