With the exception of three energy-related tax provisions, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA) has decided to largely forego piggybacking a package of energy tax breaks and incentives to the House version of the corporate tax cut bill (HR 4520).

This is directly at odds with the Senate corporate tax measure (S. 1637), which was overwhelmingly approved last month due in part to the inclusion of a popular energy tax package valued at more than $19 billion (see NGI, May 17).

“We’re disappointed to see that so many [energy tax incentives] were missing” from the House bill, said Marnie Funk, spokeswoman for Chairman Pete Domenici (R-NM) of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “We’re sure it will be revisited at conference.”

The three energy-related tax provisions in the House corporate tax bill include: an extension of the existing credit for electricity produced from certain renewable resources to 2006, a taxable income credit on oil and natural gas produced from marginal wells to end Jan. 1, 2006, and an extension of the credit for qualified electric vehicles to Dec. 31, 2005.

The House measure, which has been named “The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004,” is scheduled to be marked up by the House Ways and Means on Monday (June 14).

The batch of tax initiatives in the Senate measure are far more broad. It offers incentives for the development of an Alaska gas pipeline, including a controversial floor prices for gas produced in Alaska and delivered over the proposed line; Section 29 tax credits for unconventional oil and gas production, a new credit for marginal oil and gas production; accelerated depreciation for gas gathering lines; and expensing of geological and geophysical costs, as well as a number of other tax provisions.

The Senate bill also would provide benefits and incentives for renewable fuels, alternative vehicles, conservation and energy efficiency, electricity produced using clean coal technology, formation of regional transmission organizations, nuclear decommissioning and energy-related research and development. In addition, the measure would treat electric transmission property, which is placed in service after the bill’s enactment and until July 2006, as 15-year property.

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