Welch votes to expand tax incentives for renewable energy |
Tuesday, 20 May 2008 19:00 |
Also extends critical education & child care tax breaks for working Vermonters Washington, DC - Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) supported and the U.S. House passed legislation expanding tax incentives to foster the development of new renewable energy and energy efficiency. The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act, H.R. 6049, extends and expands tax incentives for renewable energy and energy efficiency, helping retain and create thousands of green jobs and foster innovation and business investment. "The way out of our energy challenges is to harness American innovation on a path of energy independence. These incentives are a critical part of creating a new green economy and Vermont is ready to lead the way," said Welch. Welch added, "As high energy prices squeeze Vermonters' paychecks, providing incentives for new renewable sources of energy and for efficiency is an important step. These incentives will help foster economic development and thousands of new green collar jobs." The legislation offers $18 billion in renewable energy and green job creation tax incentives, including:
The incentives are paid for by closing loopholes that allow corporations and executives to avoid U.S. taxes by shipping jobs and investment overseas. The bill stops hedge fund managers and corporate CEOs from escaping income taxes by using offshore tax havens. In addition to providing these incentives for renewable energy, the bill also provides tax deductions for tuition and other education expenses, out-of-pocket expenses by teachers, property taxes for non-itemizers, and expand the refundable child tax credit to taxpayers earning as little as $8,500 a year. For Vermont, 9,754 teachers took the deduction for out-of-pocket classroom supplies, totaling $2.4 million in deductions, 9,678 families took the tuition deduction for higher education costs, totaling $26 million in deductions, and 20,916 children in low-income working families would get a benefit from the improved refundable child tax credit. |