NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A497
SPONSOR: Jones TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the tax law, in relation to providing a tax credit for a
portion of the cost of qualified densified biomass fuel expenditures;
and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
PURPOSE:
This bill creates a tax credit for the purchase of biomass
fuel for residential use, typically wood pellets for use in a wood
pellet boiler.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Amends the tax law to add a new subsection that permits a
resident owner of real property to claim a tax credit in an amount equal
to thirty percent of qualified biomass fuel expenditures; defines "qual-
ified biomass fuel expenditures" and "biomass fuel" accordingly.
Section 2. Sets forth the effective date and expiration of the aforemen-
tioned tax credit.
JUSTIFICATION:
Wood-fueled heating systems, also called biomass systems, burn wood
pellets, chips or logs to provide warmth in a single room or to power
central heating and hot water boilers. Heating a home with a wood pellet
boiler has a number of advantages over heating with traditional fossil
fuels. Wood pellets cost as much as 60% less than traditional heating
fuel sources, and are a sustainable, renewable, and carbon-neutral fuel
source. Wood pellets are produced in a number of locations throughout
North America, with multiple producers located within New York State.
Almost any home can be converted to utilize a wood pellet boiler, either
as a stand-alone heat source or as a primary heat source in conjunction
with a secondary backup boiler. NYSERDA currently offers a number of
incentives for residential homeowners to install wood pellet boilers to
heat their homes and convert from more traditional electric and/or gas
heat. However, such incentives are not applicable for the purchase of
fuel to use in these boilers once installed. This bill would create a
tax credit for resident owners of real property under the tax law for
fuel expenditures, incentivizing New Yorkers to install and use biomass
fuel to heat their homes, which in turn could continue to drive the
state toward record uses of renewable energy.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
05/25/17 referred to ways and means
01/03/18 referred to ways and means
01/05/18 amend (t) and recommit to ways and means
01/05/18 print number 8047a
01/14/19 referred to ways and means
01/08/20 referred to ways and means
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be deemed
repealed five years after such effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
497
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 6, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JONES, WILLIAMS -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Ways and Means
AN ACT to amend the tax law, in relation to providing a tax credit for a
portion of the cost of qualified densified biomass fuel expenditures;
and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration there-
of
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 606 of the tax law is amended by adding a new
2 subsection (kkk) to read as follows:
3 (kkk) Credit for qualified densified biomass fuel expenditures. (1)
4 Any resident owner of real property as defined in section one hundred
5 two of the real property tax law shall be allowed a credit against the
6 tax imposed under this article in an amount equal to thirty percent of
7 qualified densified biomass fuel expenditures.
8 (2) For purposes of this subsection, the following definitions shall
9 apply:
10 (a) "Qualified densified biomass fuel expenditures" shall mean expend-
11 itures for the cost of densified biomass fuel, manufactured in the
12 United States of America, and used to heat a dwelling unit located in
13 the state and used as a residence by the taxpayer, or to heat water for
14 use in such a dwelling unit.
15 (b) "Densified biomass fuel" shall mean a solid fuel derived by the
16 mechanical densification and refining of biomass sourced from woody or
17 agricultural feedstocks. Such term shall include wood pellets.
18 (3) If the amount of the credit allowed under this subsection for any
19 taxable year shall exceed the taxpayer's tax for such year, the excess
20 shall be treated as an overpayment of tax to be credited or refunded in
21 accordance with the provisions of section six hundred eighty-six of this
22 article, provided, however, that no interest shall be paid thereon.
23 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
24 deemed repealed five years after such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04169-01-1
