(This article is reprinted from a Forest
Resources Association (FRA) News Release. Women In Timber had a hand in
this victory. This issue was one of the Position Papers brought to
Washington DC in March 2004.)
Rockville, MD – On October 8, the “Jumpstart Our Business Strength” (JOBS)
bill passed both the House and the Senate—including an important provision
denying the Internal Revenue Service the authority to assess new excise
taxes and heavy vehicle use taxes on most mobile machinery used on logging
jobs.
“This was a crucial win for the whole wood fiber supply chain,” stated
Richard Lewis, President of the Forest Resources Association. “The IRS
proposed taxing mobile logging equipment $200 million each year and applying
it to the Highway Fund. Congress said ‘no.’ Highway and bridge maintenance
must be supported by the vehicles that actually cause the wear on highways
and bridges—-not by mobile delimbers, log loaders, and chippers.”
The
Forest Resources Association and the American Loggers Council marshaled all
their members to oppose this new tax, in a fight that extended over a
22-month period. There was always a risk that the provision would be lost
in the larger negotiations over the JOBS bill, but with Senator Michael
Crapo (R-Idaho) championing the provision in the House-Senate conference,
the provision remained visible and its terms were even improved in the final
weeks.
Danny Dructor, Executive Vice President of
the American Loggers Council stated, “My hat’s off to all of the ALC and FRA
members who called, faxed and wrote their representatives to make certain
that the right language was placed in the final bill to preserve our mobile
machinery exemptions, and I would especially like to thank all of the
members of Congress and their staff who responded to our concerns by
including specific language to include “timbering” operations which will
give clarity to the intent of the law.”
The
JOBS Bill codifies the IRS-own three-part Design Test for determining
whether truck/trailer-mounted machinery using public roads while traveling
from jobsite to jobsite is exempt from: 12% Retail Excise Tax on the
cost of the truck/trailer chassis, Heavy Vehicle Use Tax, and the
Tire Excise Tax. The 4th Use Test establishes a mileage cap
on the Fuel Tax exemption where mobile machinery traveling over 7,500
miles per year on public roads will not be eligible to file for a
fuel tax refund. The vast majority of mobile machinery used by loggers will
PASS the 3-part Design Test and the 4th Use Test, effectively
maintaining the exemption from federal excise and highway taxes for mobile
logging machinery.
The Forest Resources Association Inc. is a nonprofit trade
association concerned with the safe, efficient, and sustainable harvest of
forest products and their transport from woods to mill. FRA represents wood
consumers, independent logging contractors, and wood dealers, as well as
businesses providing products and services to the forest resource-based
industries.
The American Loggers Council is a nonprofit 501(c)(6)
organization whose mission is to enhance the logging profession, provide a
unified voice on logging issues; and cooperate with public, industrial and
private timberland owners to further sustainable forestry practices.
