Mayors Urge Congress To Reinstate Brownfields Cleanup Tax Incentive

摘要

The nation's mayors are urging Congress to reinstate an expired tax incentive for the redevelopment of brownfields, calling it a "valuable tool" that boosts brownfields cleanups and adding to the support for the measure being pushed by a national brownfields cleanup advocacy group. The U.S. Conference of Mayors at its annual meeting in Las Vegas, held June 21-24, adopted a resolution in support of renewing the federal brownfields tax deduction. The move adds to efforts by the National Brownfields Coalition, an alliance that represents a range of interests that favor brownfields cleanup and redevelopment, to push Congress to reinstate the deduction. At issue is a provision, first established in 1997 and codified in section 198(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, that allowed taxpayers to deduct fully expenses paid to clean up hazardous substances at brownfields sites in the year the expenses were incurred rather than spreading them over a period of years. It was allowed to sunset at the end of 2011. While Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) proposed extending the tax incentive last July, the measure was dropped from the Senate Finance Committee's tax legislation last August in order to reduce the cost of the bill by $363 million over 10 years.