02/28/2019

Grassley to Introduce Tax Extenders Bill

The bill is likely to also include tax relief for disaster-stricken areas

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) is expected to introduce legislation this week to renew dozens of expired tax breaks known as extenders. The bill is likely to also include tax relief for disaster-stricken areas, according to Bloomberg BNA.

Since all tax bills have to originate in the House, Grassley’s tax extenders bill serves as a marker of his interest in renewing the tax breaks. Tax extenders include many popular tax breaks that enjoy bipartisan support but have proven difficult to pass as stand-alone legislation due a variety of concerns, not the least of which is how to pay for them.

These temporary tax breaks expired at the end of 2017 and would need to be retroactively extended by Congress for taxpayers to be able to claim them this filing season. Extenders were not attached to the government funding bill that Congress passed last week, however, and pressure from different industries that rely on the tax breaks continues to mount.

Grassley is particularly supportive of renewing the bio-diesel tax credit and the railroad track maintenance credit and has said his preference is to renew tax extenders for two years to give individuals and businesses more certainty about the tax incentives that are available to them.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) has not committed to a course of action on extenders, and some Ways and Means Democrats have suggested having a hearing on the issue.

This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.