WASHINGTON – The tax and spending agreement for fiscal year 2016 reached by congressional negotiators on Dec. 15, and expected to be approved by the Senate and House of Representatives before the end of the week, includes a two-year extension (retroactive for fiscal year 2015 and through fiscal year 2016) of the biodiesel tax credit. At the same time, the credit will remain a blenders’ credit rather than shifting to a producers’ credit, a move supported by soybean growers and the biodiesel industry. The shift to a producers’ credit would have prevented blenders from benefiting from the credit when they use imported soybean oil in the manufacture of biodiesel.
“The extension of the biodiesel tax credit is integral to the continued growth and expansion of the biodiesel industry in the United States,” said Richard Wilkins, president of the American Soybean Association and a farmer from Greenwood, Del. “We know that the industry can advance and produce beyond its current numbers, but the absence of the tax incentive since late in 2014 has hindered that growth. We’re happy to see it return and look forward to what biodiesel can do over the coming years.
