Worried that certain tax credits might lapse, area business leaders said they welcome renewal of American Indian Lands Tax Credits and employment credits.

The tax credits, which allow faster depreciation for non-residential property and credits for business that hire Native Americans, passed Congress earlier this month as part of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, commonly called the $700 billion bailout package. The act’s passage renews the tax credits through December 2009.

“We’ve been waiting for so long for this to pass,” said Leisha Haworth, executive director for Muskogee Development.

She said the tax credit has been in effect for years, but must be renewed each year by Congress.

“It goes into a sunset period, and this year they allowed it to sunset in 2007,” Haworth said.

Gill Luton, spokesman for Georgia-Pacific’s Muskogee plant, said the tax credit renewals usually are tacked into an omnibus bill.

Luton said the tax credits enable Georgia-Pacific to “compete with other facilities for capital expenditures within the corporation.”

Haworth said the land tax credit accelerates the tax depreciation period for non-residential properties located on Indian land by up to 40 percent. Indian land includes all of eastern Oklahoma, including Muskogee and surrounding counties. Haworth said about two-thirds of the land in Oklahoma qualifies.

The Oklahoma Department of Commerce Web site said qualifying lands may include previous tribal land which may have been transferred to new ownership. Excluded areas are the Oklahoma Panhandle to Perry and south to Oklahoma City and far southwest Oklahoma.

Landowners do not need to be Native American to qualify for the credits, Haworth said.

“If you are a small business owner and you have a property you do not use as a residence, you can accelerate depreciation of your land and capital equipment,” she said.

Muskogee CPA Kathy Hewitt said that instead of waiting five years for depreciation, the property owner might have to wait only three years.

The second part of the renewal grants employers federal employment tax credits of up to $4,000 per qualifying employee each year. Haworth said qualified employees are any Native American on Indian rolls and a spouse.