National Farmers Union President Roger Johnson encouraged support for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee’s draft tax extenders package that will be considered today at the Committee’s executive session.

“Producers and rural residents deserve certainty when it comes the tax needs of their individual businesses,” said Johnson in a letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Oregon. “NFU applauds the Finance Committee in advancing a two year extenders package well ahead of the end of the year.”

Johnson noted that over the last several years, Congress has approached the extension of valuable tax credits in a way that was unpredictable and unfriendly for family farmers and rural residents.

“The last minute extensions, some of which were retrospective in nature, left producers scrambling during the last few weeks of the year to make purchases,” said Johnson. “There was very little confidence that Congress would extend the credits until it actually passed. As a result, long-term planning was impossible.”

Johnson pointed out NFU support for the following tax credits:
·      Charitable contributions of real property for the purpose of conservation.
·      Extension of bonus depreciation.
·      Charitable deduction for contributions of food inventory.
·      Extension of increased expensing limitations and treatment of certain real property as section 179 property.
·      Extension of the Renewable Electricity Production Credit.
·      All extensions that benefit the renewable fuel sector at both the production and consumption levels.
·      Deductions for energy efficiency upgrades made to buildings.