Wyden seeks spring vote on expired tax breaks

Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is eyeing a spring vote on a string of expired tax provisions, according to a spokeswoman.

{mosads}Wyden as made the provisions, collectively known as tax extenders, one of his top priorities since taking over for former Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.).

A spokeswoman for Wyden, Lindsey Held, said that Wyden was still discussing with Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), the top Republican on the Finance Committee, and other committee members how to best proceed on the more than 50 tax breaks that expired at the end of last year.

Wyden has long supported tax breaks for alternative energy, and said that Congress should move on extenders given the long odds facing tax reform. Top Senate Democrats have made the extenders a priority as well.

“I am not going to sacrifice important matters like research and development and innovation on the altar of perhaps some inaction on comprehensive reform,” Wyden said on “Bloomberg Television” this month.

Still, it’s unsure how many of the tax breaks will survive, or how House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) will handle extenders, given his focus on tax reform.

Hatch has said he wants the committee to examine the list of tax breaks, after an extenders bill he and Baucus crafted in 2012 let some provisions expire for good.