Short-line tax credit might be extended in Q1, Sen. Moran says

Congress likely will extend the short-line tax credit before the first quarter ends, according to U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).

The Section 45G tax credit expired at 2013's end. Originally enacted in January 2005 and extended several times, the Section 45G provision enables regionals and short lines to claim a tax credit of 50 cents for every dollar spent on infrastructure improvements, up to a cap of $3,500 per mile of owned or leased track.

Introduced last year, the Short Line Railroad Rehabilitation and Investment Act (H.R. 721/S. 411) proposes to extend the tax credit through 2016. The short-line tax credit has widespread support in Congress and is the most co-sponsored piece of legislation in the Senate, Moran said during his remarks at the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association's annual conference held last week in Palm Desert, Calif.

Moran long has championed the tax credit in Congress. In 2003, he introduced a measure with Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) that proposed to establish the short-line tax credit. Moran also helped craft a bill in 2009 that sought to extend the tax credit through 2012.

American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association officials believe that if Congress passes an "extenders package" bill this year to extend existing tax-credit measures, the short-line tax credit might be included because of the support it has generated on Capitol Hill.