To get a complete understanding about the Ethanol Tax Incentive, attendees at the National Ethanol Conference heard this morning from Dr. John Urbanchuk, Director, LECG, LLC.

He started out talking about how work needs to be done to renew the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) in a couple years. He talks about how the ethanol industry is in its infant stage still and this type of incentive is very important. He also reminded attendees about how many incentives are offered to the mature oil industry.

You can listen to his remarks here: John Urbanchuk Remarks (16 min MP3)

Dr. Urbanchuk is also the author of a new economic analysis on the impact of the U.S. ethanol industry. The report shows that in 2006 the industry is providing the federal government with a sound return on its investment. According to the analysis, ‘Contribution of the Ethanol Industry to the Economy of the United States,’ (pdf file) the federal government received tax revenues of $2.7 billion simply from the construction and operation of ethanol biorefineries. The tax revenue generated exceeded the amount of money the federal government provided in tax incentives to oil refiners who use ethanol.