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Extracted Text (OCR)
Energy
Trump’s tax reform plans generally adhere to the
precepts of the House Republican tax reform Blueprint,
but he differs with that outline in some important
respects. The House Blueprint proposes, among other
things, to allow 100 %expensing of qualified business
investments and to deny the deductibility of net business
interest expenses. It would also eliminate most fossil fuel-
specific tax incentives such as deductions for intangible
drilling costs (IDCs) and percentage depletion, but its
proposal to allow expensing of all business investment
would mitigate the loss of many of the specific
deductions. The Blueprint appears to allow both
independent and integrated producers to deduct 100 %of
IDCs in the year they are paid or incurred. Whilethis
would preserve the status quo for independent producers,
allowing integrated oil and gas companiesto also expense
100%of IDCs could increase the rate of return on oil and
gas wells drilled by integrated companies. This change, in
combination with the possible loss of the percentage
depletion deduction (which allows cost recovery in excess
of cost basis) could ultimately make independent
producers less competitive with integrated companies.
Trump offered qualified support for the Blueprint’s
proposal to allow 100 %expensing — but would limit the
provision to manufacturers—and those who elect
expensing will lose the deductibility of businessinterest
expenses. Further, he may be more inclined to keep
traditional fossil fuel-specific tax incentives, such as the
deduction for intangible drilling costs and the percentage
depletion deduction.
While President-elect Trump has spent much of his time
discussing federal policy issues surrounding conventional
energy resources, he has expressed opposition to
continued federal support for the development of wind
and solar energy and has said that he will eliminate all
federal spending for clean energy research. How he
proceeds in the new Congress may be heavily influenced
by both electoral politics (e.g., ethanol-rich lowa largely
supported his candidacy) and the pre-existing dynamics in
Congress. Many congressional Republicans have opposed
even temporary extensionsof renewable energy
incentives and the fate of these provisions may well be
linked to the effectiveness of the Democratic minority.
EY 20
| Election 2016
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