Tax Credit

The extension of the federal wind-power tax credit as part of the fiscal cliff package was hailed as a victory Wednesday by renewable power advocates. But a Bucks County wind-turbine manufacturer, where much of the workforce was furloughed in September because of a slowdown in orders, is unlikely to ramp up production any time soon because of the last-minute congressional rescue of the tax credit. "I think it will take a little while for this to work its way to the manufacturing sector, but it will be a stimulus," said David J. Rosenberg, the vice president of marketing for Gamesa USA, the Spanish wind-turbine manufacturer with U.S. headquarters in Langhorne.

Councilman Wilson Goode Jr. introduced a bill Thursday that would double the amount of tax credits available to city businesses for creating jobs. Currently, the tax credits are capped at 1 percent of city revenue collected from the gross receipts and net income business taxes, or about $4 million a year. Goode's bill would cap the program at 2 percent of the revenue collected from those taxes. The city has had the tax credit since 2003, when the credit was $1,000 per job created.

Working parents, take note: You could get some summertime tax relief from the IRS. If you've enrolled your kids in summer day camps while you're at work - or even looking for work, you may be eligible for a tax credit. Under existing rules, up to 35 percent of qualifying day camp expenses can be claimed as a federal child care tax credit for children under 13. "We want to let parents know that a summer day camp can qualify for a tax credit, just as a day care center or hiring a babysitter can qualify during the school year," said IRS spokesman Jesse Weller.

It's back-to-school time, and that means families have been shopping for backpacks and notebooks, shoes and clothes during what has become one of the busiest shopping seasons behind Christmas. Before classes even started, American families were expected to spend an average of $100 on school supplies. Add new clothes and many families were looking at bills close to $300. For lower-income working families, that's a sizable bite. That's why many have come to rely on a government program so effective that it has enjoyed support over the years from Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives - the Earned Income Tax Credit.

The U.S. Senate today approved a measure extending the closing deadline to Sept. 30 for home-buyers attempting to take advantage of the federal tax credit. The National Association of Realtors estimates that 180,000 buyers who met the contract deadline of April 30 would not be able to close their transaction by the June 30 deadline. Association members have reported as many as one-third of qualified applicants - who could get a credit of as much as $8,000 - have been notified by lenders that their mortgages will not close because of the sheer volume of applications in the pipeline.

RECENTLY asked via TV news: How can government create a jobs machine? Best jobs machine I ever saw was the historical tax credit for rehabbing old buildings. But in the mid- to late '80s, Democratic Rep. Dan Rostenkowski of Chicago rallied for tax reform across the board, and government gutted the program. Many professions and neighborhoods were adversely affected. The tax credits would've brought a substantial dose of energy and jobs. Old City was a big winner, but the city still has vast areas with abandoned historic buildings hoping for a new lease on life.

Pennsylvania's lawmakers are proposing to slash the state's film tax credit, and the local film industry is crying foul. The Pennsylvania film tax credit, begun in 2004, covers certain production expenses for state-sited films, TV series, and shows. Funds for the credit stand at $75 million, but in cash-strapped Pennsylvania, budgeteers are talking about slicing it to $49 million, according to the Greater Philadelphia Film Office. It is the first time a dollar amount has been put on the proposed cut. "That's just crazy," said Sharon Pinkenson, executive director of the film office.

House-hunting typically slows in winter, as people put their searches on hold for the holidays. But this winter might be different, thanks to the extended - and expanded - first-time home-buyer tax credit. "We're going to see far more interest in the fourth quarter than we generally do because of the tax credit," said Heather Fernandez, vice president of Trulia.com, a real estate search engine. Traffic surged on the site Nov. 5, the day Congress approved extension of the credit, she said.

In the Philadelphia region, the rebirth of the defunct U.S. Steel site in Bucks County makes the best case for winning the high-stakes gamble being played out in Congress over extending vital, government incentives for developing wind-energy systems. It's at the old Fairless Works that the Spanish turbine manufacturer Gamesa has employed hundreds of people, and where predicted layoffs affecting 20 percent of the firm's Pennsylvania workforce would hit hard. Gamesa has grown by leaps, building wind-power equipment and wind farms that generate 40 percent of the state's wind power - all while relying on domestic suppliers for an increasingly large share of its components.

It happened - somehow appropriately - in the dark. And for the few who beat the deadline, there must have been some satisfaction when the clock struck midnight to end Dec. 31. Like most people in South Jersey, Andrew Poligo of Medford spent that night welcoming the New Year. But Poligo was also one of a group of people, here and across the country, that could take satisfaction in having beaten the Dec. 31 deadline for receiving a federal tax credit on solar energy equipment. Just a few weeks before, Poligo had watched the installation of solar collectors on the roof of his four-bedroom house.