U.S. may stop black liquor tax credits to pay for health care

U.S. House members are looking to stop the black liquor tax credits received by American pulp and paper companies at the end of the year.

Legislation introduced this week would prevent such companies as International Paper Co. and Weyerhaeuser Co. from claiming a $1.01-per-gallon tax credit for the production of cellulosic biofuels.

Members of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee are discussing whether to add the biofuels provision to health-care legislation that House leaders want to have a vote on by mid-next week.

Paper companies already reaped billions in federal payments this year by claiming an alternative fuels credit for recycling black liquor, a by-product of the paper-making process. Stopping the companies from claiming the more generous credit is estimated to save $24 billion over a decade.

The alternative fuels credit expires at the end of this year, and lawmakers have vowed to ensure that if it is renewed, it will be narrowed so that black liquor is not eligible.

Read more:

US Lawmakers Eye Health Bill To Shut Down Tax Break For Paper Cos (Easy Burse)

Weyerhaeuser may lose tax credit (Daily Herald)