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...
Tax Benefits for Back to School Shopping!
This from the MN Department of Revenue: It’s almost time to start back-to-school shopping and the Minnesota Department of Revenue is reminding you that most school supply purchases qualify for valuable K-12 tax benefits on your 2019 Minnesota income tax return. Remember to save your school supply receipts. What K-12 tax benefits does Minnesota offer? Two Minnesota tax benefits help families pay their child’s education expenses: the K-12 Education Credit and the K-12 Education Subtraction. Both benefits reduce your state tax and could provide you a larger refund when filing your Minnesota income tax return. Last year, more than 33,000 families received the K-12 Education Credit and saved an average of $244. Over 178,000 families Read More...
Breaking News: MFP Payment Details
It's been a topic of discussion for months and now the final rates have been released: the UDSA's Market Facilitation Program (MFP) has been announced. The information below is from a media release that was published by the USDA on July 25th, 2019. You can read the full article here. What is the Market Facilitation Program (MFP)? The Market Facilitation Program (MFP), Food Purchase and Distribution Program (FPDP), and Agricultural Trade Promotion Program (ATP) will assist agricultural producers while President Trump works to address long-standing market access barriers. American farmers have dealt with unjustified retaliatory tariffs and decades of non-tariff trade disruptions, which have curtailed U.S. exports to China and other Read More...
Get Up To $40,000 to Replace Your Old Diesel Vehicle
Our goal is to provide our clients with all of the information needed to ensure success in their business. We've learned about an opportunity that impacts many industries our clients serve and want to help you capitalize on it if you're eligible! What is this Diesel Grant? The MN Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) released an RFP for a grant that reimburses 25% of the replacement cost (up to $40,000) per old diesel vehicle replaced with a new EPA-certified vehicle. The goal of this grant is to achieve significant reductions in emissions, fine particles, and greenhouse gases benefiting the entire state of Minnesota. It is also an effort by MPCA to reduce exposures to harmful air pollutants and maximize health benefits. There is a total of Read More...
What Are The Best Ways To Save For College?
A college education can be one of the most important investments you ever make. But the benefits of your child's increased earning power and expanded horizons come at a price — college is expensive. Many families finance a college education with a combination of resources, but your savings are the cornerstone of any successful college funding plan. So it's important to start saving as soon as you can. For 2018/2019, average costs for tuition, fees, room, and board are: $21,370 — public college $48,510 — private college (many private colleges cost substantially more) Source: College Board, Trends in College Pricing 2018 Where should you put your college savings? There are many options to choose from: 529 plans Read More...
May is National Military Appreciation Month!
Minnesota Department of Revenue sent this bulletin at 05/01/2019 11:45 AM CDT In honor of National Military Appreciation Month, the Minnesota Department of Revenue reminds service members and their families about Minnesota’s valuable military-related tax benefits. We will send weekly messages throughout the month to highlight some of these benefits. What military tax benefits does Minnesota offer? Visit the Members of the Military page to learn about tax benefits and how to claim them. Our military tax benefits include: Pension Subtraction You may be able to subtract military retirement pay (including pensions) from your Minnesota taxable income. Credit for Service in a Combat Zone You may qualify for this credit if you Read More...
Big Change in Alimony Rules
There have been many tax changes that impact filers during this year's tax filing season. We will be sharing as much information as possible to make this season simpler for you. Today, we share about changes that have been made for alimony rules, and how they may apply to your situation. For payments required under divorce or separation instruments that are executed after Dec. 31, 2018, the deduction for alimony payments is eliminated. Recipients of affected alimony payments will no longer have to include them in taxable income. The above rules for alimony payments also apply to payments that are required under divorce or separation instruments that are modified after Dec. 31, 2018, if the modification specifically states that the Read More...
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