Biofuels Tax Credit How to claim the Oregon Biofuels Tax credit for B-99 and E-85 fuel blends

It's tax season and we've had a few requests for more information on the biofuels tax credit for Oregon residents. 

Passed in 2007, Oregon House Bill 2210 allows Oregon residents to claim a tax credit of up to $200.00 per year for purchasing B-99 biodiesel, and E-85 ethanol fuel blends. 

"Governor Kulongoski, provides a package of measures to encourage greater development, distribution and use of agricultural and forest material for biofuels, for electricity and for other forms of biomass energy use.  The bill expands property tax incentives for biofuel and certain fuel additive production facilities, establishes a new tax credit for producers and collectors of biofuel raw materials, based on Btu content of feedstock, and creates an income tax credit for consumer use of biofuel "

courtesy of Oregon.gov

How to claim the tax credit:

(For our example we will be using the standard 2010 Oregon 40 form.)
*click on form to download*

Claiming the biofuels tax credit is a pretty straight forward process. One quick thing to note is that a tax credit is not the same as a tax deduction. A tax deduction is an expense that lowers your total taxable income. In this case with a biofuels tax credit, it is a specific dollar amount that you can subtract from your liability to the state. In short, it's less money that you have to pay the state or more money that you would get back from the state.

1.) Gather all receipts for B-99 or E-85 fuel purchased in Oregon in the 2010 calendar year and add up the total amount of gallons purchased.

*If you purchased these fuels @ the SeQuential station in Eugene the receipts should have a dollar amount per gallon as well as a gallon amount that is specific to the thousandth of a gallon.

Ex: "10.132 gallons"

2.) B-99 tax credit is $.50 per gallon & the E-85 tax credit is for $.42 per gallon.

3.) Multiply your total gallons purchased by the appropriate credit for each fuel type.

4.) Go to box #39 on the 1040 form and plug the total into the box.

                     "Biofuel Consumer (code 744)"

5.) This is the total that you subtract from your debt to the state or money that the state may owe you as a refund depending on your individual situation.

6.) That's It!

Please note that the tax credit is ONLY for B-99 and E-85 fuel blends at this time. 

The tax credit is eligible up to a maximum of $200.00 per vehicle registered in Oregon.

The tax credit is a consumer tax credit and does not fall under the business expense category

*If you are preparing your taxes on-line, most services already have the necessary information built into the program for you to fill out.

New E85 flex-fuel station app for Android smart phones

The Renewable Fuels Association has released a free and useful mobile phone app for the Android smart phone line.

As many of you know, biofuels aren't always the easiest fuel to track down, especially when you're traveling or just in an unfamiliar area. This new app provides users with E85 station locations, prices, phone number, and most importantly -- directions.


I recently spent the holidays w/ my family in Arizona where we had rented a flex-fuel vehicle from the airport. I had installed the app a few days earlier and was excited to see it in action when I fired it up in a big city with hundreds of fueling stations. Within seconds a full map appeared on the screen displaying the stations in the area with an E85 pump.

With the mobile app becoming a growing standard in our daily lives, it is exciting to see an application designed specifically for the biofuel markets. No word yet on a biodiesel specific application, but I think it's only a matter of time until one is released.

“Being able to provide America’s consumers with more access to flex-fuel stations is helping raise awareness of the increasing amount of alternative fuels that are available to them,” said RFA Market Development Director, Robert White. “As more Americans fuel up with domestic fuel, we can reduce our dependency on foreign oil and increase energy security.”

Links:

 Renewable Fuels Association

E85 locator app for Garmin & TomTom GPS systems