What is the OSLT? The oil spill liability tax (OSLT) expired on December 31, 2018, and therefore was not required for the 2019 calendar year. Effective January 1, 2020, the law reinstated the oil spill excise tax imposed on crude oil and imported petroleum products. The cost of the OSLT is calculated at a rate of $0.09 per barrel (approximately $0.00214 per gallon) of crude oil products (including natural gasoline used as denaturant). How is the OSLT usually filed? This excise tax is filed quarterly with IRS Forms 6627 and 720, but deposits are required for each semimonthly period in which the tax liability is incurred. The amount of this deposit must not be less than 95% of the amount of net tax liability incurred during the Read More...
Refundable Biodiesel Blender Credits Extended
Under the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2020, the refundable biodiesel blender credits were extended. How is the refundable biodiesel blender credit usually filed? A one-time claim can be made for the $1.00/gallon refund on biodiesel mixture gallons for 2018 and 2019. Total gallons for these two years need to be combined and reported on one Form 8849, Claim for Refund of Excise Taxes. Form 8849 Schedule 3, Certain Fuel Mixtures and the Alternative Fuel Credit, must be included with the submission with appropriate gallons reported on Line 2. It should be noted that the refund received from these credits is not-taxable. You can find additional rules and information on the IRS website here. Now What? The 180-day claim period Read More...
Christianson Entering the QAP Service Market
As part of our mission to serve our clients by providing innovative solutions through knowledge, experience, and vision, we are expanding our service offerings. Christianson PLLP, one of the nation’s leading experts in biofuel compliance is launching a Quality Assurance Plan (QAP) under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Program. The QAP is a liability protection and compliance program that utilizes independent third-parties to verify that RINs have been properly generated and valid for RFS compliance. The voluntary program is aimed at adding a layer of transparency and greater fluidity in the RIN market, while also building a more efficient and effective RFS program. Invalid RINs transferred that have been verified under an approved QAP Read More...
USDA Advanced Biofuel Payment Program
Jan. 13, 2020 The USDA Advanced Biofuel Payment Program is now open for Fiscal Year 2019 and 2020. Its goal is to increase US energy independence by increasing the supply of renewable energy in the public sector. Applications must be received by the individual state offices by 4:30pm local time by February 18, 2020 for both FY 2019 + 2020. This means time is short! The USDA is strongly advising applicants to conduct research and avail themselves of training before submitting their applications. Christianson PLLP can assist all types of biofuel producers with their applications and requests for quarterly payments. Applications & Eligibility Any entity that produces and sells advanced biofuel in its final form in the US is eligible Read More...
Charitable Contributions as Tax Deductions
It's almost tax time, which means our experts will be releasing information more frequently in an effort to make tax time easier for you. This time around, we want you to be aware of the potential tax deductions as it relates to charitable contributions. Taxpayers who donate to charity should check out the resources below to see whether they qualify for a deduction on their tax return. If you donate to a charity, you may be able to claim a deduction on your tax return. These deductions basically reduce the amount of taxable income. Keep in mind, you can only deduct charitable contributions if you itemize deductions. Although, Minnesota does have a subtraction of 50% of the total amount of contributions over $500. Here are some Read More...
Lease Accounting Standard Delay
On Wednesday, October 16th, the FASB officially approved the delay of the lease accounting standard, ASU 2016-02 Leases (Topic 842), for Private companies and Nonprofit organizations to December 31, 2021 (delayed to 2022 for fiscal year-ends). No changes were made for Public entities, which have a December 31, 2019 implementation date. Although delayed, the impact of the lease standard will be significant to the financial statements of many organizations and it’s never too early to begin this analysis. Christianson PLLP is here to assist in the transition process for your organization, and has developed tools and templates to assist in the implementation of the lease accounting standard. Give us a call or email Sara DeRoo today! Read More...
Reinvestment and Risk Management
As seen in Ethanol Producer Magazine: While some ethanol plants are struggling to cover their operating expenses, Connie Lindstrom, senior biofuels analyst with Christianson CPAs & Consultants, says there is also reason for optimism in the industry. “There are plants that are hanging in there and they’re doing fine,” she says. Lindstrom presented Christianson’s industry benchmarking numbers at the 2019 Fuel Ethanol Workshop & Expo in June and says the data doesn’t point to a specific factor for plants’ success or failure, such as size or location. “We have solidly performing plants that are any size or that are in many locations,” she says. “There are ways to be successful, even in times like this where the margins are so tight. Read More...
Oregon Releases Draft Rule for Verification Program
Our compliance experts work hard to identify and research new regulations and opportunities to keep you up to date with the ever-changing rules that guide our industry. Recently our compliance experts identified a new regulation that we wanted to introduce to you, the first draft of Oregon’s verification rules. On Friday, September 6, Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) released three draft rules. Two of the draft rules are updates and modifications to Oregon’s existing Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (Division 215) and Clean Fuels Program (Division 253). The third draft rule was the addition of Division 272, Third Party Verification. We would like to call your attention mainly to the Third Party Verification Rule at Read More...
RenovaBio – A Brazilian Carbon Reduction Regulation
RenovaBio is a Brazilian carbon reduction regulation that will become effective in December of this year. The regulation was fast tracked and has developed very quickly leaving a lot of questions and concerns for the US renewable fuel industry. In our attempts to keep you current with recent industry happenings, Christianson has prepared a brief overview of the program and the main concerns for U.S. participants. There are three main points that we want to address prior to getting into the overview of the model and regulation. First, it was announced that the Brazilian tariff rate quota would remain intact but would be raised to 198 million gallons of tariff free gallons rather than the previous 159 million gallons. Anything Read More...
Improved Tool to Check Withholding
News release from the IRS: There is an Improved tool on IRS.gov that helps taxpayers check their withholding! Here's what the news release said: All employees should make sure their employers are withholding the correct amount of tax from their paychecks. The best way for employees to do this is to use the new IRS Tax Withholding Estimator on IRS.gov. The IRS just launched this improved tool to help taxpayers check their withholding by doing a Paycheck Checkup. This lets the employee check to see if their employer is taking enough tax from their paycheck to cover the amount of tax they owe. After using the Estimator, if necessary the employee can change the amount of tax their employer takes out of their paycheck. This Read More...
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