This week, the House of Representatives passed its tax reform bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The bill serves as the House’s opening offer once it goes to a conference committee with the Senate.
The House bill was considered under a closed rule, meaning that all amendments were submitted and reviewed by the Rules Committee. However, the Rules Committee decided not to accept any amendments. This also means that no amendments were accepted on the House floor. Thus, the bill passed out of the House was the bill voted out of Ways and Means. Any further alterations will come during the conference committee.
A final tax bill signed into law will differ significantly from the current House language due to major structural and content discrepancies between the two chambers. Namely, the House bill will cost more than the Senate, and the Senate will likely include sections repealing parts of the Affordable Care Act. It is expected that conference negotiations will focus on many of these big-ticket items, including corporate and individual rates. Heading into conference, APGA will continue to monitor the bill for several provisions impacting natural gas, including:
-Tax exemption for Private Activity Bonds (PAB) and advanced refunding bonds;
-Section 48 investment tax credit for combined heat and power (CHP) systems and fuel cells;
-Section 199 domestic production deduction, which includes natural gas;
-Section 6426 excise tax credit for the sale of compressed and liquefied natural gas;
-Section 30(C) investment tax credit for alternative fuel infrastructure; and,
-The repeal of the electric vehicle tax credit.
For questions on this article, please contact Doug MacGillivray of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at
dmacgillivray@apga.org.