20 November 2019 Ways & Means Democrats release green energy draft House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenue Measures Chairman Mike Thompson (D-CA) and Committee Democrats November 19 released the Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now (GREEN) Act discussion draft that proposes to retroactively extend many energy tax extenders through 2024 and to increase the cap for the electric vehicle (EV) credit. Revenue raisers are not identified, but the document says they are to be provided. "This bill will build on existing tax incentives that promote renewable energy and increase efficiency and create new models for technology and activity to reduce our carbon footprint. I've long said that if we don't address climate change, nothing else matters as we won't have a planet to pass on to our next generation. The GREEN Act is a critical step forward in our fight to tackle climate change head on," Chairman Thompson said. Full Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) said, "We look forward to hearing from stakeholders to ensure this bill is effective in helping improve energy efficiency and eliminating carbon emissions." The EV provision reflects the Driving America Forward Act (H.R. 2256) by Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) and other Ways and Means Democrats. Currently, after an automaker sells 200,000 qualifying vehicles, the $7,500 tax credit is phased down. The bill would increase the cap to 600,000, allowing purchasers of an additional 400,000 electric vehicles per manufacturer to be eligible to receive a $7,000 tax credit. At the start of the new phaseout period, the credit is reduced by 50% for one quarter and terminates thereafter. The draft also creates a new credit for buyers of used plug-in electric cars. The draft also reflects the Renewable Energy Extension Act by Chairman Thompson, which would forestall a pending 2020 phase-down by granting a five-year extension of the current law IRC Section 48 business energy investment tax credit (ITC) and the IRC Section 25D tax credit for residential energy efficient property (which includes technologies related to solar, fuel cells, geothermal and microturbines). Another new provision would provide a capped refundable competitive credit of $1 billion for each year 2020 through and including 2024 to institutions of higher education for environmental justice programs. The draft calls on the Treasury Department to assess and report on the utility of the data from the Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program for determining the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by each taxpayer to impose a fee on such taxpayers with respect to such emissions. Many of the energy provisions in the bill have been expired since the end of 2017, and they would be extended seamlessly from that time. The Ways and Means Committee June 20 approved H.R. 3301 to extend through 2020 tax provisions that expired at the end of 2017 and 2018, and that will expire at the end of 2019, plus disaster relief tax provisions. Negotiations are ongoing to prepare an extenders package that can be attached to a future government funding measure. The exact plans and timing for next steps on the discussion draft have not been announced. Many of the provisions included in the discussion draft were introduced as standalone bills November 19 by Democratic members of Ways and Means.
Document ID: 2019-2069 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
