as part of tax reform, by Natalia Castro, 12/21/16
President elect Donald Trump wants
Americans to have a tax code they can understand and that benefits them, unlike
the current code. Trump won the election as a business man for the common man,
and the first thing he can do to retain that image is to begin to put an end
corporate cronyism that runs rampant through the political system.
A perfect target are corporate tax
credits, including those enjoyed by green energy industries wind and solar,
subsidies the Obama administration has put in place for these industries while
the EPA’s regulatory war on coal has helped cripple our economy.
Currently, the American Wind Energy Association touts their two luxurious tax credits. The
group explains, “The Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the Investment Tax Credit
(ITC) are meant to keep wind energy attractive for the investors who finance
new wind farms as demand for low-carbon fuel sources continues to increase. The
PTC is currently worth 2.3 cents for every kilowatt-hour of electricity
generated for the power grid.”
Despite wind energy consistently not
reaping economic returns and proving an inefficient means to energy
sustainability, in 2015 Congress agreed to continue these subsidies through
2020.
But wind energy is not the only
ineffective government tax credit which is draining our economy and complicating
our tax code, solar energy is receiving the same subsidies.
In fact, the federal government allows for tax credits of up to 30 percent for solar
electric property, solar water-heating property, fuel cell property, small
wind-energy property, and geothermal heat pumps. In 2015, these credits were
extended through 2021.
In order for Trump to follow through
on his promise to eliminate this corporate power over federal money, he must
work on removing these credits for the tax code; and with Republicans
dominating the House and Senate, now is the time to begin.
As William Gale, a co-director of
the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center and a former economic adviser to President
George H.W. Bush told the New York Times in Nov. 2016, “Tax reform is the thing that always unites Republicans. I
would guess that that’s Item 1 on the congressional agenda.”
As House Republicans push
legislation into Trump’s first 100 days, including tax reform, all legislation
that allows for corporations to institute ineffective and inefficient policy
must be removed. Trump has held strong on his aim to bring competition back to
the energy sector, which he cannot do with these policies in place. When tax
reform comes up to the table, Trump can kill two birds with one stone.
Remove wind and solar tax credits to
force the market to stand on its own and allow room for effective energy
production that Americans need. It is time for these corporations to stop
feeling the benefits, and time for the American people to receive some for a
change.
Natalia
Castro is a contributing editor at Americans for Limited Government.
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