September 23, 2008

Renewable Energy & Job Creation Act of 2008

H.R. 6049, the Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008, passed by the Senate by a margin of 93-2, on September 23, 2008. The bill includes a provision that will mandate that group insurance provide equal access to mental health and medical/surgical services.  It will also address numerous energy-related and tax initiatives.

It will provide approximately $18 billion of tax incentives for investment in renewable energy, carbon capture and sequestration demonstration projects, energy efficiency and conservation. The bill will also extend $27 billion of expiring temporary tax provisions, including the research and development credit, special rules for active financing income, the State and local sales tax deduction, the deduction for out-of-pocket expenses for teachers, and the deduction for qualified tuition expenses. In addition, the bill provides almost $10 billion of additional tax relief for individuals through an expansion of the refundable child tax credit and a new standard deduction for property taxes. The bill would be primarily offset by closing a tax loophole that allows individuals that work for certain offshore corporations, such as hedge fund managers, to defer tax on their compensation and would delay the effective date of a tax benefit that has not yet taken effect for multinational corporations operating overseas.