WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senator Dianne Feinstein said on Monday she will offer an amendment to a massive tax bill to cut the ethanol tax credit and import tariff to 36 cents a gallon each.

The current U.S. ethanol tax credit of 45 cents and the import tariff of 54 cents would be extended through 2011 under the tax bill. They will expire on December 31 unless the House and Senate agree to renew the biofuels supports.

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Dianne
Feinstein said on Monday she will offer an amendment to a
massive tax bill to cut the ethanol tax credit and import
tariff to 36 cents a gallon each.

The current U.S. ethanol tax credit of 45 cents and the
import tariff of 54 cents would be extended through 2011 under
the tax bill. They will expire on Dec. 31 unless the House and
Senate agree to renew the biofuels supports.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The tax-cut package under debate in the Senate on Friday would extend through 2011 the 45 cent a gallon ethanol tax credit and a 54 cent tariff on imported ethanol — the two major supports for the biofuels industry.

Without congressional action, they will expire on Dec 31. A test vote was scheduled for Monday for the bill. The House and Senate must agree on terms for a bill to become law.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A renewed tax break for blenders of ethanol should be included in tax-cut legislation being negotiated in Congress and the White House, a high-ranking Democrat in the House of Representatives said on Thursday.

“Let’s bring ethanol to the table,” said Representative James Clyburn, the third-ranking Democrat in the House.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An extension of the major U.S. ethanol subsidy “is part of the deal at the moment” in negotiations for an omnibus tax bill, but the size and lifespan of the subsidy are not set yet, a trade group said on Wednesday.

The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee told reporters ethanol “was in a separate section of things to be resolved” and there was no decision on a subsidy rate. Chairman Kent Conrad discussed the issue with fellow Democrats.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tax credits for ethanol and other biofuels were among issues under debate for a sweeping tax bill, Democratic senators said on Tuesday, with ethanol subsidies due to expire in three weeks.

“There are provisions not yet included which I think are important,” said Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate’s tax-writing committee. Asked about a possible 36-cent a gallon tax credit for ethanol, Baucus said, “I don’t know yet.”

WASHINGTON, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Congress is likely to extend
the major U.S. ethanol incentive, rather than let it expire at
the end of the month, but it will cut the tax credit by 20
percent or so, an analyst and an industry spokesman said on
Monday.

Mark McMinimy of Washington Research Group said the most
likely outcome was for a one-year extension of the tax credit
at 36 cents a gallon, down from the current 45 cents.

KANSAS CITY/WASHINGTON, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Mark Marquis had planned to
double the size of his Illinois ethanol plant in 2011, and was considering
expanding a Wisconsin facility his family-run firm bought into last July.

But those plans are now on hold, as Marquis and other ethanol producers
brace for the possible end of $6 billion a year in U.S. subsidies for the
alternative energy source.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The major U.S. ethanol incentive would be cut by 20 percent but given one more year of life in a Senate tax bill that also would revive a biodiesel tax credit that died a year ago.

The bill was “very unlikely to pass” but would be a starting point for negotiations this month on many issues including estate tax and income tax rates, said consultants Washington Research Group on Friday.

KANSAS CITY/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Mark Marquis had planned to double the size of his Illinois ethanol plant in 2011, and was considering expanding a Wisconsin facility his family-run firm bought into last July.

But those plans are now on hold, as Marquis and other ethanol producers brace for the possible end of $6 billion a year in U.S. subsidies for the alternative energy source.