ASLRRA hosted congressional tax aides to address tax extenders measure

The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) and Natural Gas Vehicles for America (NGVAmerica) on Friday hosted Congressional tax aides for a “lunch and learn” event to discuss the impact that expired tax extenders legislation has on businesses and taxpayers.

Short lines since 2005 have relied on the Section 45G short-line tax credit to elevate their ability to invest in infrastructure rehabilitation and improvements, ASLRRA officials said in a press release. The credit has maximized capital investments by both railroads and shippers, significantly improved competitive rail service and helped improve rail safety, they said.

“The right tax policy can be enormously beneficial to the American economy by incentivizing the capital investment businesses need to grow, innovate and create jobs,” said ASLRRA President Chuck Baker. “Those benefits are significantly reduced when tax policy starts and stops in a temporary short-term fashion. Forward planning is impossible and expensive multi-year projects are difficult to undertake.”

Last month, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced the Tax Extender and Disaster Relief Act of 2019, which would retroactively extend through this year tax provisions that expired at the end of 2017 and 2018. On March 12, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Select Revenues held a hearing on temporary tax provisions, but no extender legislation has been introduced in the House. 

ASLRRA and NGVAmerica officials both strongly urge that Congress pass legislation to create predictability for investment decisions by extending tax credits as soon as possible, they said in a joint release.