p>On December 2, the House approved legislation (H.R. 4853) to permanently extend the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts for annual income earners up to $250,000. It is unclear if the bill will be brought up by the Senate, where Republican members are adamantly opposed to any tax extension measure that excludes upper income brackets.

While the House-passed bill does include provisions to permanently extend enhanced small business expensing and extends the alternative minimum tax (AMT) patch for two years, it does not include provisions extending the new energy efficient tax credit which provides a credit of $1,000 to manufacturers of Energy Star qualified manufactured homes (the provision is also known as “45L”). For more information on the House measure, click here.

On December 2, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) unveiled his proposal extending 2001 and 2003 tax credits which should come up for a vote in the Senate next week.

However, unlike the House bill, the Senate measure includes an extension of the energy-efficient new home tax credit program (45L) for two years. This provision is vitally important for manufactured and modular home producers and consumers. For more information on the Senate proposal, click here.

For more information, MHI members can contact Jason Boehlert at (703) 558-0660 or jboehlert@mfghome.org.