Tag: tax credits

Good News for Offshore Wind Blows in With New Guidance From the Treasury and IRS

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) includes several tax credits to encourage investment in renewable energy projects, including an Investment Tax Credit (ITC) that is worth up to 30% of the overall project cost. The developer of a renewable energy project can receive a bonus of up to 10% on top of the ITC for a qualified facility that is located or placed in service in an “energy community.” One type of area that can qualify as an energy community under the IRA — the one most relevant to offshore wind projects — is an area that has significant employment or local tax revenues from fossil fuels and a higher-than-average unemployment rate.

In order to apply the criteria to offshore wind facilities, the US Department of Treasury initially proposed that an offshore wind project would be deemed to be located or placed in service at the place closest to the point of interconnection (POI) where there is land-based equipment that conditions the energy generated by the offshore wind project for transmission, distribution, or use.

Stakeholders in the offshore wind industry believed, however, that this approach did not adequately reflect the original intent of the IRA as it neglected to take into account the long-term benefits of activity related to offshore wind projects at locations, particularly ports, that were not at the POI.

Responding to stakeholder advocacy over the past several months, on March 22, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released updated guidance in IRS Notice 2024-30 (the Notice). The Notice permits projects with multiple POIs to qualify for the bonus credit, so long as one of the POIs is within an energy community. Stakeholders believe that this will be key in developing the shared transmission infrastructure that will be required for effective use of offshore wind energy.

Further, the Notice permits offshore wind facilities to attribute their nameplate capacity to additional property — namely, to supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA) equipment owned by the owner of the offshore wind project and located in an EC Project Port (as defined in the Notice). SCADA equipment is property that is used to remotely monitor and control the operations of the offshore wind project. The SCADA system is effectively the nerve center for an offshore wind project.

An “EC Project Port” is defined in the Notice as a port that is used either full or part time to facilitate maritime operations necessary for the installation or operation and maintenance of the offshore wind project, and that has a significant long-term relationship with the project’s owner by virtue of ownership or lease arrangements. The personnel based at the port need to include staff who are employed by, or who work as independent contractors for, the project’s owner and who perform functions essential to the project’s operations. Staff based at the port will be considered to perform functions essential to the project’s operations only if they collectively perform all the following functions: management of marine operations, inventory and handling of spare parts and consumables, and berthing and dispatch of operation and maintenance vessels and associated crews and technicians.

Finally, the Notice adds two industry codes from the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) to those that are used to determine a community meets the IRA’s required percentage of its workforce who are employed in the extraction, processing, transport, or storage of coal, oil, or natural gas. These additional NAICS codes designate oil pipeline infrastructure and natural gas distribution infrastructure. These additional codes are intended to bring the benefits of the energy community bonus credit to more communities and the IRS has amended its list of energy communities accordingly.

Advocates note that the updated guidance in the Notice represents a more holistic approach to the energy communities bonus credit that will give offshore wind project developers more flexibility in identifying ports for their investment, The increased flexibility will bring the economic benefit of the offshore wind industry to more communities, which will ultimately reduce the cost burden to ratepayers.

© 2024 Jones Walker LLP
For more news on Tax Credits for Renewable Energy, visit the NLR Tax section.

Reinventing the American Road Trip: What the Inflation Reduction Act Means for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”) signifies a turning point in domestic efforts to tackle climate change. Within the multibillion-dollar package are robust investments in climate mitigation initiatives, such as production tax credits, investment tax credits for battery and solar cell manufacturers, tax credits for new and used electric vehicles (“EV”)1, automaker facility transition grants, and additional financing for the construction of new electric vehicle manufacturing facilities.2 One thing is abundantly clear, the IRA’s focus on stimulating domestic production of electric vehicles means that the marketplace for electric vehicles will see a dramatic change. The Biden Administration has set an ambitious target of 50% of EV sale shares in the U.S. by 2030. However, if electric vehicles are going to achieve mass market adoption, a central question remains — where is the infrastructure to support them?

Addressing gaps in EV Supply and EV Infrastructure

As it stands, the shortage of charging infrastructure is a substantial barrier in the push for mass consumer adoption of EVs.3 Experts estimate that in order to meet the Biden Administration’s EV sale target by 2030, America would require 1.2 million public EV chargers and 28 million private EV chargers by that year.4 Department of Energy data shows that approximately 50,000 EV public charging sites are currently operational in the United States.5 In comparison, gasoline fueling stations total more than 145,000.6 However, federal legislation such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (“BIL”) passed earlier this year signifies a clear commitment to remedying this disparity. The BIL establishes a National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (“NEVI”) to provide funding to States and private entities to deploy EV-charging infrastructure and to establish an interconnected network to facilitate “data collection, access and reliability.”7 The Federal Highway Administration, the federal agency charged with implementing NEVI, proposed minimum standards and requirements that states must meet to spend NEVI funds:

  • Installation, operation and maintenance by qualified technicians of EV infrastructure

  • Interoperability of EV charging infrastructure

  • Network connectivity of EV charging infrastructure

  • Data collection pertaining to pricing, real-time availability and accessibility8

The goal of the proposed rule is to secure EV charging infrastructure that works seamlessly for industrial, commercial and consumer drivers. Combining the historic investments in clean energy and climate infrastructure in the BIL and IRA, the federal government has jumpstarted what will be a fundamental shift in how consumers use transportation. Earlier this week, the Biden Administration announced more than two-thirds of EV Infrastructure Deployment Plans from States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have been approved ahead of schedule under NEVI.9 With this early approval, these states can now unlock more than $900 million in NEVI funding from FY22 and FY23 to help build EV chargers across highways throughout the country.10

Section 13404’s Alternative Fuel Refueling Property Credit

Building up the U.S. capacity to build EVs, and then ensuring people can use said vehicles more easily by shoring up EV infrastructure is a crucial facet of the Inflation Reduction Act. Section 13404 of the IRA provides an Alternative Fuel Refueling Property Credit that targets the accelerated installation of EV charging infrastructure and assets.11 Section 13404 extends existing alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit through 2032, and significantly restructures the credit by allowing taxpayers to claim a base credit of 6% for expenses up to $100,000 (for each piece refueling property located at a given facility) so long as the property is placed in service before Jan. 1, 2033.12 However, the alternative fuel property must be manufactured for use on public streets, roads and highways, but only if they are (1) intended for general public use, or (2) intended for exclusive use by government or commercial vehicles and (3) must be located in a qualifying census tract (i.e., low-income communities or non-urban areas).13 From a job creation standpoint, the IRA also provides an alternative bonus credit for taxpayers that meet certain wage requirements during the construction phase.14

The Future of EV Infrastructure

EV stations in city streets, parking garages and gas stations will become a prominent part of the nation’s infrastructure as it moves towards a green future. The effort will require coordination among municipal, state and federal policymakers. Even more, electric utilities must ensure that local infrastructure can support the additional strain on the grid. Utilities also have a direct interest in a cleaner, efficient, and less overburdened grid. Federal tax incentives, like the IRA, and subsides from states and local ordinances are integral to the implementation and construction of these networks. The private sector has already taken steps to do its part. In a recent study conducted by consulting company AlixPartners, as of June 2022, automakers and suppliers expect to invest at least $526 billion to fund the transition from gasoline powered vehicles to EVs through 2026.15 This is double the five-year EV investment forecast of $234 billion from 2020-2024.16 Even more, according to Bloomberg, not including deals that have disclosed financials, more than $4.8 billion has already been invested in the EV charging industry this year in the form of debt financing and acquisitions.17 Driven by fast growth and robust availability of government funds, financiers and large companies seeking to acquire EV charging companies, sense immense opportunity.18

FOOTNOTES

1“Electric Vehicle” is used interchangeably with the acronym “EV” throughout this article.

2 Isaacs-Thomas, I. (2022, August 11). What the Inflation Reduction act does for green energy. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/what-the-inflation-reduction-act-do…

3 Consumer Reports (2022, April). Breakthrough Energy: A Nationally Representative Multi-Mode Survey. https://article.images.consumerreports.org/prod/content/dam/surveys/Cons…

4 Kampshoff, P., Kumar, A., Peloquin, S., & Sahdev, S. (2022, August 31). Building the electric-vehicle charging infrastructure America needs. McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insight…

5 U.S Department of Energy. (2022). Alternative Fueling Station Locator. Alternative Fuels Data Center: Alternative Fueling Station Locator. https://afdc.energy.gov/stations/#/find/nearest?fuel=ELEC&ev_levels=all&…

6 American Petroleum Institute. (n.d.). Service station FAQs. Energy API. https://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas/consumer-information/consumer-re…

7 U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration. (n.d.). Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) formula program fact sheet: Federal Highway Administration. U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bipartisan-infrastructure-law/nevi_formula_prog…

8 The Office of the Federal Register of the National Archives and Records Administration and the U.S. Government Publishing Office. (2022, June 22). National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program. Federal Register. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/06/22/2022-12704/national…

9 United States Department of Transportation. (2022, September 14). Biden-Harris Administration announces approval of First 35 state plans to build out EV charging infrastructure across 53,000 miles of Highways. United States Department of Transportation. https://highways.dot.gov/newsroom/biden-harris-administration-announces-…

10 See Id.

11 As a note, “refueling property” is property used for the storage or dispensing of clean-burning fuel or electricity into the vehicle fuel tank or battery.  Clean-burning fuels include CNG, LNG, electricity, and hydrogen.

12 Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, H.R. 5376, 117th Cong. § 13404 (2022); See also Wells Hall III, C., Holloway, M. D., Wagner, T., & Baldwin, E. (2022, August 10). Nelson Mullins tax report–Senate passes Inflation Reduction Act. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. https://www.nelsonmullins.com/idea_exchange/alerts/additional_nelson_mul…

13  Id.

14  Id.

15 AlixPartners, LLP. (2022, June 22). 2022 Alixpartners global automotive outlook. AlixPartners. https://www.alixpartners.com/media-center/press-releases/2022-alixpartne… See also Lienert, P. (2022, June 22). Electric vehicles could take 33% of global sales by 2028. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/electric-vehicles-…

16 Id.

17 Fisher, R. (2022, August 16). Electric car-charging investment soars driven by EV Growth, government funds. Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-16/car-charging-investme…

18 Id.

Article By Lawrence L. Ostema and Jeffrey E. Joseph of Nelson Mullins

For more utilities and transportation legal news, click here to visit the National Law Review.

Copyright ©2022 Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Practical and Legal Considerations for Extending Cash Runway in a Changing Economy

The funding environment for emerging companies has fundamentally shifted in 2022 for both venture capital and IPOs, particularly after a banner year in 2021. Whether these headwinds suggest significant economic changes or a return to previous valuation levels, companies need to be realistic about adapting their business processes to ensure they have sufficient cash runway to succeed through the next 2-3 years.

This article provides a comprehensive set of tactics that can be used to extend cash runway, both on the revenue/funding and cost side. It also addresses areas of liability for companies and their directors that can emerge as companies change business behaviors during periods of reduced liquidity.

Ways to Improve and Extend Cash Runway

Understanding Your Cash Runway

Cash runway refers to the number of months a company can continue operations before it runs out of money. The runway can be extended by increasing revenue or raising capital, but in a down economy, people have less disposable income and corporations are more conservative with their funds. Therefore companies should instead focus on cutting operating costs to ensure their cash can sustain over longer periods.

As a starting point, companies can evaluate their business models to determine expected cash runway based on factors such as how valuations are currently being determined, total cash available, burn rate, and revenue projections. This will help guide the actions to pursue by answering questions such as:

  1. Is the company currently profitable?
  2. Will the company be profitable with expected revenue growth even if no more outside funding is brought in?
  3. Is there enough cash runway to demonstrate results sufficient to raise the next round at an appropriate valuation?

Even if companies expect to have sufficient cash runway to make it through a potential economic downturn, tactics such as reducing or minimizing growth in headcount, advertising spend, etc. can be implemented as part of a holistic strategy to stay lean while focusing on the fundamentals of business model/product-market fit.

Examining Alternative Sources of Financing

Even though traditional venture capital and IPO financing options have become more difficult to achieve with desired valuations, companies still have various other options to increase funding and extend runway. Our colleagues provided an excellent analysis of many of these options, which are highlighted in the discussion below.

Expanding Your Investor Base to Fund Cash Flow Needs

The goal is to survive now, excel later; and companies should be open to lower valuations in the short term. This can create flexibility to circle back with investors who may have been open to an earlier round but not at the specific terms at that time. Of course, to have a more productive discussion, it will be helpful to explain to these investors how the business model has been adapted for the current environment in order to demonstrate that the new valuation is tied to clear milestones and future success.

Strategic investors and other corporate investors can also be helpful, acting as untapped resources or collaborators to help drive forward milestone achievements. Companies should understand how their business model fits with the investor’s customer base, and use the relationship to improve their overall position with investors and customers to increase both funding and revenue to extend runway.1

If the next step for a company is to IPO, consider crossover or other hybrid investors, understanding that much of the cash deployment in 2022 is slowing down.

Exploring Venture Debt

If a company has previously received venture funding, venture debt can be a useful tool to bridge forward to future funding or milestones. Venture debt is essentially a loan designed for early stage, high growth startups who have already secured venture financing. It is effective for targeting growth over profitability, and should be used in a deliberate manner to achieve specific goals. The typical 3-5 year timeline for venture debt can fit well with the goal of extending cash runway beyond a currently expected downturn.

Receivables/Revenue-Based Financing and Cash Up Front on Multi-Year Contracts

Where companies have revenue streams from customers — especially consistent, recurring revenue — this can be used in various ways to increase short-term funds, such as through receivables financing or cash up front on long-term contracts. However, companies should take such actions with the understanding that future investors may perceive the business model differently when the recurring revenue is being used for these purposes rather than typical investment in growth.

Receivable/revenue-based financing allows for borrowing against the asset value represented by revenue streams and takes multiple forms, including invoice discounting and factoring. When evaluating these options, companies should make sure that the terms of the deal make sense with runway extension goals and consider how consistent current revenue streams are expected to be over the deal term. In addition, companies should be aware of how customers may perceive the idea of their invoices being used for financing and be prepared for any negative consequences from such perceptions.

Revenue-based financing is a relatively new financing model, so companies should be more proactive in structuring deals. These financings can be particularly useful for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and other recurring revenue companies because they can “securitize the revenue being generated by a company and then lend capital against that theoretical security.”2

Cash up front on multi-year contracts improves the company’s cash position, and can help expand the base where customers have sufficient capital to deliver up front with more favorable pricing. As a practical matter, these arrangements may result in more resources devoted to servicing customers and reduce the stability represented by recurring revenue, and so should be implemented in a manner that remains aligned with overall goal of improving product-market fit over the course of the extended runway.

Shared Earning Agreements

A shared earning agreement is an agreement between investors and founders that entitles investors to future earnings of the company, and often allow investors to capture a share of founders’ earnings. These may be well suited for relatively early stage companies that plan to focus on profitability rather than growth, due to the nature of prioritizing growth in the latter.

Government Loans, Grants, and Tax Credits

U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and grants can be helpful, particularly in the short term. SBA loans generally have favorable financing terms, and together with grants can help companies direct resources to specific business goals including capital expenditures that may be needed to reach the next milestone. Similarly, tax credits, including R&D tax credits, should be considered whenever applicable as an easy way to offset the costs.

Customer Payments

Customers can be a lifeline for companies during an economic downturn, with the prioritization of current customers one way companies can maintain control over their cash flow. Regular checks of Accounts Receivable will ensure that customers are making their payments promptly according to their contracts. While this can be time-consuming and repetitive, automating Accounts Receivable can streamline tasks such as approving invoices and receiving payments from customers to create a quicker process. Maintenance of Accounts Receivable provides a consistent flow of cash, which in turn extends runway.

To increase immediate cash flow companies should consider requiring longer contracts to be paid in full upon delivery, allowing the company to collect cash up front and add certainty to revenue over time. This may be hard to come by as customers are also affected by the economic downturn, but incentivizing payments by offering discounts can offset reluctance. Customers are often concerned with locking in a company’s services or product and saving on cost, with discounts serving as an easy solution. While they can create a steady cash flow, it may not be sustainable for longer cash runways. Despite their attractive value, companies should use care when offering discounts for early payments. Discounts result in lower payments than initially agreed upon, so companies should consider how long of a runway they require and whether the discounted price can sustain a runway of such length.

Vendor Payments

One area where companies can strategize and cut costs is vendor payments. By delaying payments to vendors, companies can temporarily preserve cash balance and extend cash runway. Companies must review their vendor agreements to evaluate the potential practical and legal ramifications of this strategy. If the vendor agreements contain incentives for early payments or penalties for late payments, then such strategy should not be employed. Rather, companies can try to negotiate with vendors for an updated, extended repayment schedule that permits the company to hold on to their cash for longer. Alternatively, companies can negotiate with vendors for delayed payments without penalty. Often vendors would prefer to compromise rather than lose out on customers, especially in a down economy.

Lastly, companies can seek out vendors who are willing to accept products and services as the form of payment as opposed to cash. Because the calculation for cash runway only takes into account actual cash that companies have on hand, products and services they provide do not factor into the calculation. As such, companies can exchange products and services for the products and services that their vendors provide, thereby reserving their cash and extending their cash runway.

Bank Covenants

In exercising the various strategies above, it is important to be mindful of your existing bank covenants if your company has a lending facility in place. There are often covenants restricting the amount of debt a borrower can carry, requiring the maintenance of a certain level of cash flow, and cross default provisions automatically defaulting a borrower if it defaults under separate agreements with third parties. Understanding your bank covenants and default provisions will help you to stay out of default with your lender and avoid an early call on your loan and resulting drain on you cash position.

Employee Considerations

As discussed extensively in our first article Employment Dos and Don’ts When Implementing Workforce Reductions, the possibility of an economic downturn not only will have an impact on your customer base, but your workforce as well. Employees desire stability, and the below options can help keep your employees engaged.

Providing Equity as a Substitute for Additional Compensation.

Employees might come to expect cash bonuses and pay raises throughout their tenure with an employer; in a more difficult economic period this may further strain a business’s cash flow. One alternative to such cash-based payments is the granting of equity, such as options or restricted stock. This type of compensation affords employees the prospect of long-term appreciation in value and promotes talent retention, while preserving capital in the immediate term. Further, to the employee holding equity is to have “skin in the game” – the employee now has an ownership stake in the company and their work takes on increasing importance to the success of the company.

To be sure, the company’s management and principal owners should consider how much control they are ceding to these new minority equity holders. The company must also ensure such equity issuances comply with securities laws – including by structuring the offering to fit within an exemption from registration of the offering. Additionally, if a downturn in the company’s business results in a drop in the value of the equity being offered, the company should consider conducting a new 409A valuation. Doing so may set a lower exercise price for existing options, thus reducing the eventual cost to employees to exercise their options and furnishing additional, material compensation to employees without further burdening cash flow.

Transitioning Select Employees to Part-Time.

Paying the salaries of employees can be a major burden on a business’s cash flow, and yet one should be wary of resorting to laying off employees to conserve cash flow in a downturn. On the other hand, if a business were to miss a payroll its officers and directors could face personal liability for unpaid wages. One means of reducing a business’s wage commitments while retaining (and paying) existing employees is to transition certain employees to part-time status. In addition to producing immediate cash flow benefits, this strategy enables a business to retain key talent and avoid the cost of replacing the employees in the future. However, this transition to part-time employees comes with important considerations.

Part-time employees are often eligible for overtime pay and must receive the higher of the federal or state minimum hourly wage. And if transitioned employees are subject to restrictive covenants, such as a non-competition agreement, they might argue their change in status should release them from such restrictions. Particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, courts have shown reluctance to enforce non-competes in the context of similar changes in work status when the provision is unreasonable or enforcement is against the public interest.

Director Liability in Insolvency

Insolvency and Duties to Creditors

There may be circumstances where insolvency is the only plausible result. A corporation has fiduciary duties to stockholders when solvent, but when a corporation becomes insolvent it additionally owes such duties to creditors. When insolvent, a corporation’s fiduciary duties do not shift from stockholders to creditors, but expand to encompass all of the corporation’s residual claimants, which include creditors. Courts define “insolvency” as the point at which a corporation is unable to pay its debts as they become due in the ordinary course of business, but the “zone of insolvency” occurs some time before then. There is no clear line delineating when a solvent company enters the zone of insolvency, but fiduciaries should assume they are in this zone if (1) the corporation’s liabilities exceed its assets, (2) the corporation is unable to pay its debts as they become due, or (3) the corporation faces an unreasonable risk of insolvency.

Multiple courts have held that upon reaching the “zone of insolvency,” a corporation has fiduciary duties to creditors. However, in 2007 the Delaware Supreme Court held that there is no change in fiduciary duties for a corporation upon transitioning from “solvent” to the “zone of insolvency.” Under this precedent, creditors do not have standing to pursue derivative breach of fiduciary duty claims against the corporation until it is actually insolvent. Once the corporation is insolvent, however, creditors can bring claims such as for fraudulent transfers of assets and for failure to pursue valid claims, including those against a corporation’s own directors and officers. To be sure, the Delaware Court of Chancery clarified that a corporation’s directors cannot be held liable for “continuing to operate [an] insolvent entity in the good faith belief that they may achieve profitability, even if their decisions ultimately lead to greater losses for creditors,” along with other caveats to the general fiduciary duty rule. Still, in light of the ambiguity in case law on the subject, a corporation ought to proceed carefully and understand its potential duties when approaching and reaching insolvency.

1 Diamond, Brandee and Lehot, Louis, Is it Time to Consider Alternative Financing Strategies?, Foley & Lardner LLP (July 18, 2022)

2 Rush, Thomas, Revenue-based financing: The next step for private equity and early-stage investment, TechCrunch (January 6, 2021)

Article By Natasha Allen, David W. Kantaros, Nikhil T. Pradhan, and Graham P. MacEwan of Foley & Lardner LLP

For more financial institutions and banking legal news, click here to visit the National Law Review.

© 2022 Foley & Lardner LLP

Relief Arrives for Renewable Energy Industry – Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

On August 12, 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“Act” or “IRA”), a $400 billion legislative package containing significant tax and other governmental incentives for the energy industry, in particular the renewable energy industry. The bill will have an immediate impact on the wind and solar industries, along with other clean energy projects and businesses.

SUMMARY

The IRA is a slimmed down substitute for the Build Back Better bill resulting from a compromise with Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV), whose support was necessary for the bill to pass the Senate.

The IRA comes as welcome news to the renewable energy industry as important tax incentives for wind, solar and other renewable energy resources are set to expire or wind down. Existing law also did not provide any federal tax incentives for the rapidly growing stand-alone energy storage and clean hydrogen industries.

The IRA fixes that, and more. The Act extends the investment tax credit (ITC) for solar, geothermal, biogas, fuel cells, waste energy recovery, combined heat and power, small wind property, and microturbine and microgrid property for projects beginning construction before January 1, 2025. It also extends the production tax credit (PTC) for wind, biomass, geothermal, solar (which previously expired at the end of 2005), landfill gas, municipal solid waste, qualified hydropower, and marine and hydrokinetic resources for projects beginning construction before January 1, 2025. The IRA also allows taxpayers to include their interconnection costs as part of their eligible basis for the ITC.

The Act now allows the ITC to be taken for stand-alone energy storage (previously storage was only allowed an ITC if it was part of another project, e.g., solar). Other technologies are also benefitted from the IRA, including carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) (tax credit extended and modified), clean hydrogen (a new credit of up to $3.00 per kilogram of clean hydrogen produced), nuclear power (a new credit of up to 1.5c/kWh) and biofuel (existing credit extended).

The ITC and PTC now come with strings attached. To qualify for the restored 30% ITC and the 2.6c/kWh PTC (adjusted for inflation), projects must pay prevailing wages during construction and the first five years (in the case of the ITC) and 10 years (in the case of the PTC) of operation, while also meeting registered apprenticeship requirements. Projects that fail to satisfy the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements will only receive an ITC of 6% or a PTC of .3c/kWh (adjusted for inflation). The prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements apply to employees of contractors and subcontractors as well as the company. These requirements are effective for projects that begin construction 60 days after the IRS issues additional guidance on this issue. Certain exceptions apply, including for certain small (less than 1 MW) facilities.

On the flip side, the Act includes enhancements that, in the case of the ITC, can increase the credit percentage if a project satisfies certain additional criteria. Bonuses are available for projects that (1) satisfy certain U.S. domestic content requirements (10%) or (2) are located in an “energy community” (10%) or an “environmental justice” area (10% or 20%). An “energy community” is defined as a brownfield site, an area which has or had significant employment related to oil, gas, or coal activities, or a census tract or any adjoining tract in which a coal mine closed after December 31, 1999, or in which a coal-fired electric power plant was retired after December 31, 2009. An “environmental justice” area is a low-income community or Native American land (defined in the Energy Policy Act of 1992) (10%) or a low-income residential building or qualified low-income economic benefit project (20%).

The Act also creates two new methods for monetizing the ITC, PTC, and certain other credits. Tax-exempt organizations will be permitted to elect a “direct pay” option in lieu of a tax credit. In a dramatic change that may have substantial impacts on renewable project finance, the Act permits most taxpayers to transfer the ITC, PTC, and certain other tax credits for cash.

For the first time, the Act includes a tax credit, known as the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit, for companies manufacturing clean energy equipment in the U.S. such as PV cells, PV wafers, solar grade polysilicon, solar modules, wind energy components, torque tubes, structural fasteners, electrode active materials, battery cells, battery modules, and critical minerals.

The Act also contains major tax incentives, in the form of credits and enhanced deductions to spur electric and hydrogen-fueled vehicles, alternative fuel refueling stations, nuclear power, energy efficiency, biofuels, carbon sequestration and clean hydrogen. Additional grants are available for interregional and offshore wind and electricity transmission projects, including for interconnecting offshore wind farms to the transmission grid.

Additional detail regarding these provisions follow below.

KEY ENERGY PROVISIONS OF THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT OF 2022

Investment Tax Credit (ITC)

The ITC is extended for projects beginning construction prior to January 1, 2025. The ITC starts at a base rate of 6%. The ITC increases to 30% if a project (1) pays prevailing wages during the construction phase and for the first five years of operation and (2) meets registered apprenticeship requirements. The ITC applies to solar, fuel cells, waste energy recovery, geothermal, combined heat and power, and small wind property, and is now expanded to include stand-alone energy storage projects (including thermal energy storage), qualified biogas projects such as landfill gas, electrochromic glass, and microgrid controllers. For microturbine property the base rate is 2%, which increases to 10% if the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements are met.

Projects under one megawatt (AC) and projects that begin construction prior to 60 days after the Secretary of the Treasury publishes guidance on the wage and registered apprenticeship requirements do not have to meet the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements to qualify for the 30% ITC.

PREVAILING WAGE REQUIREMENT

The new prevailing wage requirement is intended to ensure that laborers and mechanics employed by the project company and its contractors and subcontractors for the construction, alteration or repair of qualifying projects are paid no less than prevailing rates for similar work in the locality where the facility is located. The prevailing rate will be determined by the most recent rates published by the U. S. Secretary of Labor. Prevailing wages for the area must be paid during construction and for the first five years of operation for repairs or alterations once the project is placed in service. Failure to satisfy the standard will result in a significant penalty, including an 80% reduction in the ITC (i.e., an ITC of 6%), remittance of the wage shortfall to the underpaid employee(s) and a $5,000 penalty per failure. For intentional disregard of the requirement the penalty increases to three times the wage shortfall and $10,000 penalty per employee.

The prevailing wage requirement takes effect for projects that begin construction after December 31, 2022, but not before 60 days after the Secretary publishes its guidance. Projects under 1 MW (AC) are exempt from the requirement.

APPRENTICESHIP REQUIREMENT

For projects with four or more employees, work on the project by contractors and subcontractors must be performed by qualified apprentices for the “applicable percentage” of the total number of labor hours. A qualified apprentice is an employee who participates in an apprenticeship program under the National Apprenticeship Act. The applicable percentage of labor hours phases in and is equal to 10% of the total labor hours for projects that begin construction in 2022, 12.5% for projects beginning construction in 2023, and 15% thereafter. Similar penalties to the prevailing wage penalties apply for failure to satisfy the apprenticeship requirement. A “good faith” exception applies where an employer attempts but cannot find apprentices in the project’s locality.

The apprenticeship requirement takes effect for projects that begin construction after December 31, 2022, but not before 60 days after the Secretary publishes its relevant guidance. Projects under 1 MW (AC) are exempt from the requirement.

Credit Enhancements

Domestic Content. Assuming a project meets the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements, a qualifying project can earn a 10% ITC bonus (i.e., bringing the ITC to 40%), if it satisfies the domestic content requirement. To satisfy the domestic content requirement a project must use 100% U.S. steel and iron, and an “adjusted percentage” of the total costs of its manufactured components with products that are mined, produced or manufactured in the U.S. The applicable percentage for projects other than for offshore wind facilities initially is set at 40%, increasing to 45% in 2025, 50% in 2026, and 55% in 2027. For offshore wind facilities the adjusted percentage initially is 20%, and phases up to 27.5% in 2025, 35% in 2026, 45% in 2027, and 55% in 2028 and after. The initial domestic content bonus for projects failing to meet the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirement is 2%, which percentage similarly phases up.

Two exceptions exist to the domestic content requirement: (1) if the facility is less than 1 MW (AC) and (2) if satisfying the requirement will increase the overall cost of construction by more than 25 percent, or if the relevant products are not produced in the U.S. in sufficient and reasonably available quantities or quality. Under these circumstances, the unavailability of the product is counted 100% against the adjusted percentage, that is, the adjusted percentage is calculated as if 100% U.S. content was supplied for the unavailable items.

The domestic content bonus is only available for projects placed in service after December 31, 2022.

Energy Community Bonus. A project can earn an additional 10% ITC bonus if it is built in an energy community. An energy community is defined as (a) a brownfield site (as defined under CERCLA), (b) an area that has or had significant employment related to the coal, oil, or gas industry and has an unemployment rate at or above the national average, or (c) a census tract or adjoining tract in which a coal mine closed after December 31, 1999 or a coal-fired electric power plant was retired after December 31, 2009.

The Energy Community Bonus is only available for projects placed in service after January 1, 2023.

Environmental Justice. An additional 10% and, in some cases, 20% ITC bonus, is available for solar and wind projects of 5 MW AC or less where the project is located in, or services, a low-income community. The environmental justice bonus is limited to a maximum of 1.8 gigawatts of solar and wind capacity in each of calendar years 2023 and 2024, for which a project must receive an allocation from the U.S. Treasury Secretary. The 10% bonus is for projects located in a low-income community or on Native American land (defined in the Energy Policy Act of 1992). The 20% bonus is available for projects that are part of a qualified low-income residential building project or a qualified low-income economic benefit project. A qualified low-income residential project is a residential rental building that participates in a housing program such as those covered under the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, a housing assistance program administered by the Department of Agriculture under the Housing Act of 1949, a housing program administered under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996, or similar affordable housing programs. A qualified low-income economic benefit project is one where at least 50% of the households have income at less than 200% of the poverty line or at less than 80% of the area’s median gross income.

Storage projects installed in connection with a solar project also qualify for the environmental justice bonus, but not stand-alone storage projects. A project receiving an allocation for the environmental justice credit must be placed in service within four years of the date it receives the allocation.

Stand-Alone Storage. The Act now provides a tax credit for stand-alone energy storage projects. To qualify, the storage project must be capable of receiving, storing and delivering electrical energy and have a nameplate capacity of at least 5 kWh. Thermal storage projects and hydrogen storage projects qualify under the new provision. Like the ITC for other technologies, the base ITC for stand-alone storage is 6%, and increases to 30% for projects that satisfy the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements or if they are placed into service prior to 60 days after the Treasury Secretary issues guidance on prevailing wage and apprenticeship standards.

Interconnection Equipment. Qualifying projects under 5 MW (AC) now may claim an ITC on their interconnection costs. The credit applies even if the interconnection facilities are owned by the interconnecting utility, so long as they were paid for by the taxpayer. This is not a stand-alone tax credit, but rather an additional cost added to a project’s basis eligible for the ITC.

Production Tax Credit (PTC)

The Act extends the production tax credit (PTC) for projects beginning construction before January 1, 2025. The PTC is set at an initial Base Rate of .3c/kwh. Like the ITC, the credit increases to 1.5c/kwh for projects satisfying the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. The 1.5 c/kWh, with the inflationary adjustment provided for the PTC, brings the PTC up to 2.6c/kWh in 2022. In addition to wind projects, the PTC is available to solar, closed-loop and open-loop biomass, geothermal, landfill gas, municipal solid waste, qualifying hydropower, and marine and hydrokinetic facilities. Thus, solar projects may now choose either the PTC or the ITC. They cannot receive both.

CREDIT ENHANCEMENTS

Like the ITC, a project can receive an enhanced PTC similar in degree to those under the ITC for satisfying the domestic content, energy community and/or environmental justice requirements. For projects meeting the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements the increase for each applicable bonus is generally 10% of the underlying credit and, for projects failing to satisfy those requirements, 2%.

Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit

The Act creates a new clean electricity tax credit (ITC and PTC) that replaces the existing ITC and PTC once they phase out at the end of 2024. The successor ITC/PTC is technology neutral. Any project producing electricity can qualify for the tax credit if its greenhouse gas emissions rate is not greater than zero. The successor ITC is 30% and the PTC is 1.5c/kWh, escalated annually with inflation. The Clean Energy ITC/PTC will phase out the later of 2032 or when emission targets are achieved (i.e., the electric power sector emits 75% less carbon than 2022 levels). Once the target is reached, facilities will be able to claim a credit at 100% value in the first year, then 75%, then 50%, and then 0%.

Clean Hydrogen Production Credit

This Act for the first time provides a tax credit for qualifying clean hydrogen projects. The credit is available for clean hydrogen produced at a qualifying facility during the facility’s first 10 years of operation. The base credit amount is $0.60 per kilogram (kg) times the “applicable percentage,” adjusted annually for inflation. For projects meeting the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements the credit amount is five times that base amount, or $3.00/kg times the applicable percentage, adjusted annually for inflation.

The applicable percentage for hydrogen projects achieving a lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions rate of less than 0.45 kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per kg is 100%. The applicable percentage falls to 33.4% for hydrogen projects with an emissions rate between .45kg and 1.5kg, and to 25% for hydrogen projects with an emissions rate between 1.5 kg and 2.5 kg. For hydrogen projects with a lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions rate between 4 kg and 2.5 kg of CO2e per kg, the applicable percentage is 20%.

To qualify for the credit, the facility must begin construction before January 1, 2033. Facilities existing before January 1, 2023 can qualify for a credit based on the date that modifications to their facility required to produce clean hydrogen are placed into service. Taxpayers may also claim the PTC for electricity produced from renewable resources by the taxpayer if the electricity is used at a clean hydrogen facility to produce qualified clean hydrogen. The Direct Pay option, discussed below, is available for clean hydrogen projects.

Taxpayers can elect to claim the ITC in lieu of the clean hydrogen production credit. However, taxpayers claiming the clean hydrogen credit cannot also claim a tax credit for carbon capture under Section 45Q, and vice versa.

Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) Credit

Under prior law, industrial carbon capture or direct air capture (DAC) facilities that began construction by December 31, 2025, could qualify for the Section 45Q tax credit for carbon oxide sequestration. This credit could be claimed for carbon oxide captured during the 12-year period following the facility being placed in service. The per metric ton tax credit for geologically sequestered carbon oxide was set to increase to $50 per ton by 2026 ($35 per ton for carbon oxide that is reused, such as for enhanced oil recovery) and adjusted for inflation thereafter.

The Act extends the deadline for construction to January 1, 2033 and increases the credit amount. The base credit amount for CCS is $17 per metric ton for carbon oxide that is captured and geologically sequestered, and $12 per metric ton for carbon oxide that is reused. For facilities that meet the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements during construction and for the first 12 years of operation, the credit amounts are $85 per ton and $60 per ton, respectively.

The credit amount for carbon oxide captured using DAC and geologically sequestered is also increased under the Act to a base rate of $36 per metric ton, and to $180 per metric ton for projects that meet prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements. The rates are indexed for inflation beginning in 2026.

The Act reduces the minimum plant size required to qualify for the credit:  from 100,000 to 1,000 tons per year for DAC; from 500,000 to 18,750 metric tons per year for electric generating facilities paired with qualifying CCS equipment, and from 25,000 to 12,500 metric tons per year for any other facility. A CCS project paired with an electric generating unit will be required to capture at least 75% of unit (not facility) CO2 production.

Advanced Energy Project Credit

The Act provides a 30% credit for investments in projects that re-equip, expend, or establish certain domestic manufacturing or industrial facilities to support the production or recycling of renewable energy property. Examples of such facilities include those producing or recycling components for:

  • Energy storage systems and components;
  • Grid modernization equipment or components;
  • Equipment designed to remove, use, or sequester carbon oxide emissions;
  • Equipment designed to refine, electrolyze, or blend any fuel, chemical, or product which is renewable or low-carbon and low-emission;
  • Property designed to produce energy conservation technologies (residential, commercial and industrial);
  • Electric or fuel-cell vehicles, including for charging and refueling infrastructure;
  • Hybrid vehicles weighing less than 14,000 pounds and associated technologies, components, or materials;
  • Re-equipping industrial and manufacturing facilities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20%;
  • Re-equipping, expanding, or establishing an industrial facility for the processing, refining or recycling of critical materials.

Projects not satisfying the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements will only receive the base ITC credit of 6%.

The Act makes $10 billion available for qualifying advanced energy projects. Of that amount, at least $4 billion must be allocated to projects located in energy communities. The Treasury Secretary will establish a program to award credits to qualifying advanced energy projects. Applicants awarded credits will have two years to place the property in service. The provision goes into effect on January 1, 2023.

Advanced Manufacturing Production

The Act creates a new production tax credit that can be claimed for the domestic production and sale of qualifying solar and wind components, such as inverters, battery components and critical minerals needed to produce these components.

Credits for solar components include:

  • for thin film photovoltaic cell or crystalline photovoltaic cell, 4 cents per DC watt of capacity;
  • for photovoltaic wafers, $12 per square meter;
  • for solar grade polysilicon, $3 per kilogram;
  • for polymeric backsheet, 40 cents per square meter; and
  • for solar modules, 7 cents per DC watt of capacity.

For wind energy components, if the component is an offshore wind vessel, the credit is equal to 10% of the sales price of the vessel. Otherwise, the credits for various wind components vary as set forth below, which amount is multiplied by the total rated capacity of the completed wind turbine on a per watt basis for which the component is designed.

The applicable amounts for wind energy components are:

  • 2 cents for blades
  • 5 cents for nacelles
  • 3 cents for towers
  • 2 cents for fixed platform offshore wind foundations
  • 4 cents for floating platform offshore wind foundations
  • for torque tubes and longitudinal purlin, $0.87 per kg
  • for structural fasteners, $2.28 per kg
  • for inverters, the credit is an amount multiplied by the inverter’s AC capacity, with different types of inverters eligible for specified credit amounts ranging from 1.5 cents to 11 cents per watt
  • for electrode active materials, the credit is 10% of the production cost
  • for battery cells the credit is $35 per kilowatt hour of battery cell capacity. Battery modules qualify for a credit of $10 per kilowatt hour of capacity (or $45 in the case of a battery module which does not use battery cells).

A 10% credit is also available for the production of critical minerals. Critical minerals include aluminum, antimony, barite, beryllium, cerium, cesium, chromium, cobalt, dysprosium, europium, fluorspar, gadolinium, germanium, graphite, indium, lithium, manganese, neodymium, nickel, niobium, tellurium, tin, tungsten, vanadium and yttrium.

For purposes of the credits for battery cells and modules, to qualify the capacity-to-power ratio cannot exceed 100:1. The term ‘capacity-to-power ratio’ means the ratio of the capacity of the cell or module to the maximum discharge amount of the cell or module.

The advanced manufacturing credit phases out for components sold after December 31, 2029. Components sold in 2030 are eligible for 75% of the full credit amount. Components sold in 2031 and 2032 are eligible for 50% and 25% of the full credit amount, respectively. No credit is available for components sold after December 31, 2032. The phase-out does not apply to the production of critical minerals.

DIRECT PAY

The Act contains a valuable cash payment option that allows certain organizations to treat certain tax credit amounts including, among others, the ITC, PTC, clean hydrogen, and carbon capture credits, as payments of tax and then receive a refund for that tax that is deemed paid. Under the so-called “direct pay” option, in lieu of receiving a tax credit, an eligible entity will be treated as if it had paid taxes in the amount of the credit, for which it can then receive a cash refund. Entities eligible for the direct pay option include tax-exempt organizations, state and local governments, Indian tribes (as defined in the Act), the Tennessee Valley Authority, and any Alaska Native Corporation. The direct pay option is subject to an annual election and must be claimed by a partnership or S corporation rather than its partners or S corporation shareholders. Refunds under the direct pay provisions are treated the same as tax credits for purposes of basis reduction, depreciation rules, and recapture.

For qualifying facilities electing direct pay that do not meet the domestic content requirements, a reduction applies for projects beginning construction in 2024 (90%) and 2025 (85%). Thereafter, the direct pay option will not be available for projects that do not satisfy the domestic content requirement.

TRANSFERRABLE CREDITS

The IRA allows eligible taxpayers that do not elect the direct pay option to transfer certain credits to unrelated taxpayers including, among others, the ITC, PTC, clean hydrogen, and carbon capture credits. The transferred credit must be exchanged for cash. Credits may only be transferred once. Carryforwards or carrybacks are not transferable. Payments made to the transferor of the credit are not taxable to the transferor, nor is the payment by the transferee to the transferor deductible to the transferee.

The credit period for transferred credits is 23 years (including three years for carrybacks). The credit must be used in earliest possible year of transferee. A 20% penalty may apply for both direct payments and transfers where excessive payments have occurred.

Zero Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit

The Act includes a new PTC for the production of electricity from an existing nuclear facility that was placed in service before the date of enactment of the Act. To qualify, the electricity from the facility must be produced and sold to an unrelated person after December 31, 2023. The credit terminates on December 31, 2032. The base PTC amount is 3 cents per kWh, but is increased five times if wage and apprenticeship requirements are met (to 1.5 cents per kWh), in each case adjusted annually for inflation and reduced by a reduction amount to the extent electricity from the plant is sold at a price over $0.025/kWh.

Electric Vehicles and Hydrogen-Fueled Cars

The Act includes a $7,500 credit for taxpayers purchasing new electric vehicles and a $4,500 tax credit for used ones. The Act eliminates the previous “per-manufacturer” limits that applied to the new vehicle credit, but imposes new domestic content and assembly requirements, as well as caps on the retail price of new vehicles, and the income of the taxpayers purchasing the vehicle.

The Act also sets aside financing and credits to promote electric vehicle manufacturing. It calls for $2 billion in grants to help convert existing auto manufacturing factories into ones that make electric vehicles and $20 billion of loans for new clean vehicle manufacturing facilities. The Act extends the credits to hydrogen-fueled cars in addition to EVs.

Alternative Fuel Refueling Property Credit

The Act revives the expired credit for alternative fuel refueling property (i.e., electric vehicle chargers), allowing it for property placed in service before December 31, 2032. The base credit is 6% of the cost of property, and is increased to 30% if wage and apprenticeship requirements are met. The previous $30,000 cap is also increased to $100,000.

OFFSHORE WIND

The IRA puts in place a 10-year window in which a lease for offshore wind development cannot be issued unless an oil and gas lease sale has also been held in the year prior and is not less than 60 million acres. The Act also withdraws the Trump administration’s moratorium on offshore wind leasing in the southeastern U.S. and eastern Gulf of Mexico.

GREEN BANK

The Act includes $27 billion toward a clean energy technology accelerator to support deployment of emission-reduction technologies, especially in disadvantaged communities. The EPA Administrator would be permitted to disburse $20 billion to “eligible recipients,” which are defined as non-profit green banks that “provide capital, including by leveraging private capital, and other forms of financial assistance for the rapid deployment of low- and zero-emission products, technologies, and services.

Clean Fuel Production Credit

The Act creates a new tax credit for domestic clean fuel production starting in 2025 and expires for transportation fuels sold after December 31, 2027. The tax credit is calculated as the applicable amount multiplied by the emissions factor of the fuel. The base credit is $0.20 per gallon of transportation fuel produced at a qualified facility and sold, which increases to $1.00 if prevailing wage requirements are met. The base credit is $0.35/gallon for sustainable aviation fuel, $1.75 if labor and wage requirements are satisfied. The emissions factor of the fuel may reduce the credit amount. The credits are adjusted for inflation. The credit cannot be claimed if other clean fuel credits are claimed, including clean hydrogen production.

Article By Kris J. Eimicke and Merrill Kramer of Pierce Atwood LLP

For more energy and environmental legal news, click here to visit the National Law Review.

©2022 Pierce Atwood LLP. All rights reserved.

Tax Reform – Consolidated Appropriations Act Provides Added Bonus for LIHTC Projects

On March 23, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018 (H.R. 1625), a $1.3 trillion dollar spending bill that funds the federal government through September 30, 2018. In addition to preventing a government shutdown, this omnibus spending bill incorporated the following key provisions that help to strengthen and expand the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC):

  • A 12.5% increase in the annual per capita LIHTC allocation ceiling (after any increases due to the applicable cost of living adjustment) for calendar years 2018 to 2021.
  • An expansion of the definition of the minimum set-aside test by incorporating a third optional test, the income-averaging test. Pursuant to the Code, a project meets the 40-60 minimum set aside test when 40% of the units in the project are both rent restricted and income restricted at 60% of the area median income. Under the new law, the income test is also met if the average of all the apartments within the property, rather than every individual tax credit unit, equals 60% of the area median income. Notwithstanding, the maximum income to qualify for any tax credit unit is limited to 80% of area median income.

This legislation is a great win for affordable housing advocates who have been pushing for LIHTC improvements through the Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act, introduced in both the Senate (S. 548 sponsored by Senators Cantwell and Hatch) and the House (H.R. 1661 now sponsored by Congressmen Curbelo and Neal) in 2017, as discussed previously in a prior blog post.

We will continue to provide updates on legislation related to Tax Reform.

Read more coverage on tax reform on the National Law Review’s Tax page.

Copyright © by Ballard Spahr LLP
This post was written by Maia Shanklin Roberts of Ballard Spahr LLP.

Six Biofuel Trade Associations Write Congress To Extend Advanced Biofuel Tax Credits

On April 5, 2016, the biofuel trade associations Advanced Biofuels Business Council, Algae Biomass Organization, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), Growth Energy, National Biodiesel Board, and Renewable Fuels Association sent a letter to House and Senate Leaders asking for a multiyear extension of advanced biofuel tax credits. The six organizations are specifically asking that the Second Generation Biofuel Producer Tax Credit, the Special Depreciation Allowance for Second Generation Biofuel Plant Property, the Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Fuels Credit, the Alternative Fuel and Alternative Fuel Mixture Excise Tax Credit, and the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property through the Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes Act of 2015 are extended before they expire at the end of 2016. Other energy production tax credits have been extended, and the biofuel trade associations argue that extending certain energy tax provisions and not others creates investment uncertainty across the energy sector, and puts biofuel producers at a disadvantage.

Article By Kathleen M. Roberts of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.

©2016 Bergeson & Campbell, P.C.

January 2016 Tax Credits & Incentives Update

tax man liftingwiderHMB Tip of the Month:  As provided in two of the cases highlighted in this monthly update, a taxpayer that meets all of the criteria of a statutory tax credit (in which funding is available) may be successful in court when it faces a challenge to its eligibility to the credit from the jurisdiction that administers the credit.  If a taxpayer faces such a challenge and the denial of the credit is material to the taxpayer, a taxpayer should explore its options with a trusted consultant.

Recent Announcements of Credit/Incentives Applications and Packages

Massachusetts– Global business giant General Electric Co. announced January 13 that it is relocating its corporate headquarters from Connecticut to Massachusetts as part of a deal that includes a $145 million state and local tax incentive package.  GE will begin relocating its Fairfield, Connecticut, corporate headquarters to Boston this summer and expects to complete the move by 2018.

Connecticut’s Governor Malloy offered an incentive package to GE in August 2015, but it apparently was not enough to persuade the company to stay.  The move will bring 800 jobs to Boston, specifically to the Seaport District.  Massachusetts offered up to $120 million through state grants and other programs, and the city offered up to $25 million in property tax relief.

Additional incentives include $1 million in grants for workforce training; up to $5 million for an innovation center to forge connections between GE, research institutions, and the higher education community; commitment to existing local transportation improvements in the Seaport District; appointment of a joint relocation team to ease the transition for employees moving to Boston; and assistance for eligible employees looking to buy homes in Boston.

Legislative, Regulative and Gubernatorial Update

Alaska- Alaska Governor Walker released legislation (HB 246 and HB 247) on January 19 detailing his proposal to end many of the state’s oil tax credits and establish a low-interest loan program to support exploration and production.  Jerry Burnett, deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue, said current oil prices and production levels have forced a reconsideration of how the state encourages oil industry investment. “We can end up paying 55 to 65 percent of the project during development and 85 percent of exploration [costs],” he said. “It’s a fairly generous program. It seemed like a good idea when oil was $100 a barrel.”  With oil prices currently at around $27 per barrel, the Walker administration wants to pivot away from tax credits — many of which the state repurchases from companies — and instead focus on creating a loan program to back companies developing petroleum resources.

Illinois–   Several bills were introduced in the Illinois House on January 27.

HB 4545 creates the Manufacturing Job Destination Tax Credit Act and amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. It provides for a credit of 25% of the Illinois labor expenditures made by a manufacturing company in order to foster job creation and retention in Illinois. The Department of Revenue is authorized to award a tax credit to taxpayer-employers who apply for the credit and meet the certain Illinois labor expenditure requirements. The bill sets minimum requirements and procedures for certifying a taxpayer as an “accredited manufacturer” and for awarding the credit.

HB 4544 would amend the Illinois Income Tax Act to authorize a credit to taxpayers for 10% of stipends or salaries paid to qualified college interns. The credit is limited to stipends and salaries paid to 5 interns each year, and limits total credits to $3,000 for all years combined. The bill provides that the credit may not reduce the taxpayer’s liability to less than zero and may not be carried forward or back.

Finally, HB 4546 would amend the Service Occupation Tax Act and the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act to provide that, by March 1, 2017, and by March 1 of each year thereafter, each business located in an enterprise zone may apply with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a rebate in an amount not to exceed 1% of the amount of tax paid by the business under the Acts during the previous calendar year for the purchase of tangible personal property from a retailer or serviceman located in Illinois. The legislation provides that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall pay the rebates from moneys appropriated for that purpose.

Indiana– SB 125 introduced on January 5 would resurrect a program that has struggled to maintain political support since it was proposed in 2005. The bill would allow a refundable credit for qualified in-state production expenditures of at least $50,000. The program would be open to producers of films, television programs, audio recordings and music videos, advertisements, and other media for marketing or commercial use. It excludes obscene content and television coverage of news and athletic events.

For expenditures of less than $6 million, the credit would be equal to 35 percent of those expenses, or 40 percent of expenditures in an economically distressed location. For qualified production expenditures of at least $6 million, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation would be tasked with setting the credit level, which could not exceed 15 percent. Those credits would also need to be preapproved by the agency.

The bill takes a broad approach to defining expenditures but excludes wages, salaries, and benefits paid to directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors who do not live in Indiana. The program would be capped at $2.5 million annually and sunset at the end of 2019. It also includes clawback provisions preventing taxpayers from claiming unused credits and requiring them to repay any credits that have already been claimed if they fail to satisfy the bill’s conditions.

Maryland- On January 27, Maryland Governor Hogan proposed a series of education-focused legislative proposals including an education tax credit. The proposed tax credit would be provided to private citizens, businesses, and nonprofits that make donations to public and non-public schools to support basic education needs such as books, supplies, technology, academic tutoring, tuition assistance, and special needs services. The credit would also target the promotion of pre-K programs and enrollment. The credit would be awarded through the Department of Commerce with the total level of credits phased in over three years to $15 million in fiscal year 2018.

Massachusetts– On January 27, Massachusetts Governor introduced legislation (H 3978) which would restore the film tax credit to the structure when the credit was introduced in 2005 and use the revenue generated to increase the annual cap on the low-income housing tax credit by $5 million, and to phase-in over four years the use of single-factor apportionment for all corporate taxpayers who do business in more than one state.

New Jersey– Governor Christie conditionally vetoed on January 11 two Senate bills that would have renewed the recently expired film tax credit program.  The vetoed Senate bills, S 779 and S 1952, would have renewed the recently expired film tax credit program, funding the program at $60 million annually for seven years.  The film tax credit program that expired in 2015 allowed production companies to claim up to a 20 percent tax credit on expenses.

In his veto message, Christie called the bills expensive and said they offer “a dubious return for the State in the form of jobs and economic impact, and that I believe we should consider, if at all, during the upcoming budget negotiation process.”

Senate Democrats issued a joint statement claiming that Christie supports tax credits for big companies “but when it comes to an industry that helps small local businesses he looks the other way.” The senators said that by not reauthorizing the film tax credit program, Christie is starving the film industry in New Jersey and making the state uncompetitive with neighboring states.

New Jersey– L. 2016, S2880, effective 01/19/2016, provides up to $25 million in Economic Redevelopment and Growth Grant (ERG) tax credits to Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, for eligible projects including buildings and structures, open space with improvements, and transportation facilities. The law also raises the ERG program cap from $600 million to $625 million.

New Jersey– L. 2016, S3182, effective 01/19/2016, permits a 2-year extension for a developer of a “qualified residential project” or “qualified business facility” to submit documentation to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority supporting its credit amount under the Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit program. The law also provides an additional two years for developers to submit information on the credit amount certified for any tax period, the failure of which subjects the amount to forfeiture. In addition, the law permits a one-year extension for a developer of a qualified residential project to submit documentation of having received a temporary certificate of occupancy to receive tax credits under the Economic Redevelopment and Growth Grant program. The deadline for a business to submit documentation that it met the capital investment and employment requirements under the Grow New Jersey Assistance Program (for a credit applications made before July 1, 2014), is extended to July 28, 2018.

New Jersey– L. 2016, S3232, effective 01/11/2016, allows certain businesses that have previously been approved for a grant under the Business Employment Incentive Program (BEIP) to direct the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to convert the grant to a tax credit. The law provides an alternative means to satisfy the backlog of unpaid grant obligations, approved before the phase out of the BEIP, due to fiscal constraints. Requests to convert grants to tax credits must be made within 180 days of the law’s enactment. The law also establishes a priority for issuing the tax credits favoring older outstanding grant obligations.

Virginia– The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has amended regulations 17 VAC §§ 10‐30‐10 through 10‐30‐160, effective February 10, 2016. The numerous amendments relating to the historic rehabilitation tax credit include the requirement to provide certain information on the “Evaluation of Significance” on the Historic Preservation Certification Application. The requirement for an independent audit reporting and review procedures is increased to $500,000 or greater, and for projects with rehabilitation expenses of less than $500,000 an agreed upon procedures engagement report by an independent accountant must be used. The fee structure for processing rehabilitation certification requests has been revised, and the fees charged by the Department for reviewing rehabilitation certification requests have also been increased. The entitlement to the credit has been changed from January 1, 1997 to January 1, 2003; consequently, the section on projects begun before 1997 has been updated to reflect the new 2003 date. The amendments also added or modified certain definitions.

Washington– With the backing of unions, HB 2638 was introduced on January 18 which would require Boeing to keep its in-state employment levels near a 2013 baseline for the company to claim the full value of a reduced business and occupation (B&O) tax rate and the B&O tax credit for aerospace product expenditures.

The legislation, similar to the failed HB 2147 from 2015, is a reaction to what labor and other critics say is the loss of thousands of Boeing jobs in Washington since lawmakers in 2013 extended the aerospace industry tax incentives from 2024 to 2040.

HB 2147 was reintroduced in this session, but HB 2638 is the proposal proponents intend to pursue this year. HB 2638 would set a baseline of 83,295 in-state employees, roughly the same as the company’s 2013 Washington workforce. After Boeing’s workforce falls 4,000 below that level — which has already happened — the value of the tax incentives would be cut in half. If Boeing’s workforce falls to 5,000 fewer than the baseline, the company would pay normal B&O tax rates and lose the ability to claim the tax credit.  HB 2638 is less incremental than HB 2147, which would have increased the B&O tax rate closer to normal by 2.5 percent for every 250 employees below the baseline.

Case Law

California– In a case in which Ryan U.S. Tax Services, LLC (Ryan), a tax advisory and site selection firm, challenged the validity of a regulation concerning contingent fee practitioners advising taxpayers who submit applications for the California Competes Tax Credit, the California Superior Court, Sacramento County, has said that it will grant Ryan’s petition and request for declaratory relief. Cal. Rev. & Tax. Cd. § 17059.2 and Cal. Rev. & Tax. Cd. § 23689 (sometimes hereinafter referred to as the statutes) each set forth 11 factors on which the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) is to allocate the credit.  GO-Biz also adopted regulations to implement the credit program, including the application process for tax credit allocation. Cal. Code Regs. 10 § 8030(b)(10) requires applicants for tax credits to provide certain information on the tax form, including the name of any consultant providing services related to the credit application, the consultant’s fee structure and cost of services, and whether payment to the consultant is influenced by whether a credit is awarded.

Moreover, Cal. Code Regs. 10 § 8030(g)(2)(H) provides that GO-Biz will evaluate any other information requested in the application, including but not limited to the reasonableness of the fee arrangement between the applicant and any consultant and it further provides that any contingent fee arrangement must result in a fee that is no more than a reasonable hourly rate for services. Ryan contended, among other things, that the regulation is inconsistent with the statutes because it expands the qualifications for tax credit applicants, that is, it adds to the exclusive list of 11 qualifying factors in the statutes a new factor, the amount of consultant fees paid by tax credit applicants. GO-Biz argued that the legislature delegated to it broad authority to fill in the details of the tax credit program, and while the statutes do not explicitly list consultant fees as a consideration, they fall within the scope of the factor that authorizes GO-Biz to consider the extent to which the anticipated tax benefit to the state exceeds the projected benefit to the taxpayer from the tax credit (Cal. Rev. & Tax. Cd. § 17059.2(a)(2)(K); Cal. Rev. & Tax. Cd. § 23689(a)(2)(K)) by ensuring that tax credits are used for job creation and are not unnecessarily diverted to unreasonable consultant fees.

The court agreed with Ryan that the regulation was invalid. Limiting consultant fees does not preserve tax credits or ensure that tax credits will be used to create new, good-paying jobs. The statutes provide the 11 factors to be used in allocating credits. The cost of a consultant’s services is a matter between the taxpayer and the consultant. Even if the statutes are construed as allowing GO-Biz to consider whether consultant fee arrangements are reasonable, the court found that the regulation’s de facto ban on contingent fee arrangements to be arbitrary and not reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes of the statutes because it effectively disqualifies businesses that have contingent fee arrangements with their consultants from receiving the credit. The court will enter judgment in the case after a formal judgment is prepared, approved, and signed. (Ryan U.S. Tax Services, LLC v. State of California, Cal. Super. Ct. (Sacramento County), Dkt. No. 34-2014-00167988, 01/07/2016.)

Kansas– The Kansas Department of Revenue ruled that a third party cannot furnish electric service or enter into a solar power purchase agreement (PPA) with a Kansas homeowner, as the Retail Electric Suppliers Act (RESA) prohibits the furnishing of electric service by any person or company other than the certified public utility for a particular territory, and so it was moot whether the charges a non-utility billed to a Kansas customer were taxable. The Department declined to speculate about the potential answer should the Kansas Legislature sometime authorize non-utilities to enter into PPAs, but the company was encouraged to resubmit the question if it is not directly answered by the legislation should such PPA agreements be legalized. (Kansas Opinion Letter No. O-2016-001, , 01/25/2016 .)

Kentucky– The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky has ruled that a Noah’s Ark-themed tourist attraction cannot be denied sales tax incentives by Kentucky on grounds that the project advanced religion in violation of First Amendment protection from state establishment of religion. The Court found that the religious-based theme park met the neutral criteria for the tax incentives and, therefore, the state could not deny the incentives for Establishment Clause reasons. In addition, in denying the tax incentives, the state violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Consequently, the Court enjoined the state of Kentucky and its Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet from applying the Tourism Development Act in a way that excludes Ark Encounter from the program based on its religious purpose and message or based on its desire to utilize any exception in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act for which it qualifies concerning the hiring of its personnel.Ark Encounter, LLC, et al. v. Parkinson, et al., U.S. Dist. Ct. (E.D. KY), Dkt. No. 15-13-GFVT, 01/25/2016.

Article By Jennifer Zimmerman of Horwood Marcus & Berk Chartered
© Horwood Marcus & Berk Chartered 2016. All Rights Reserved.

January 2016 Tax Credits & Incentives Update

tax man liftingwiderHMB Tip of the Month:  As provided in two of the cases highlighted in this monthly update, a taxpayer that meets all of the criteria of a statutory tax credit (in which funding is available) may be successful in court when it faces a challenge to its eligibility to the credit from the jurisdiction that administers the credit.  If a taxpayer faces such a challenge and the denial of the credit is material to the taxpayer, a taxpayer should explore its options with a trusted consultant.

Recent Announcements of Credit/Incentives Applications and Packages

Massachusetts– Global business giant General Electric Co. announced January 13 that it is relocating its corporate headquarters from Connecticut to Massachusetts as part of a deal that includes a $145 million state and local tax incentive package.  GE will begin relocating its Fairfield, Connecticut, corporate headquarters to Boston this summer and expects to complete the move by 2018.

Connecticut’s Governor Malloy offered an incentive package to GE in August 2015, but it apparently was not enough to persuade the company to stay.  The move will bring 800 jobs to Boston, specifically to the Seaport District.  Massachusetts offered up to $120 million through state grants and other programs, and the city offered up to $25 million in property tax relief.

Additional incentives include $1 million in grants for workforce training; up to $5 million for an innovation center to forge connections between GE, research institutions, and the higher education community; commitment to existing local transportation improvements in the Seaport District; appointment of a joint relocation team to ease the transition for employees moving to Boston; and assistance for eligible employees looking to buy homes in Boston.

Legislative, Regulative and Gubernatorial Update

Alaska- Alaska Governor Walker released legislation (HB 246 and HB 247) on January 19 detailing his proposal to end many of the state’s oil tax credits and establish a low-interest loan program to support exploration and production.  Jerry Burnett, deputy commissioner of the Alaska Department of Revenue, said current oil prices and production levels have forced a reconsideration of how the state encourages oil industry investment. “We can end up paying 55 to 65 percent of the project during development and 85 percent of exploration [costs],” he said. “It’s a fairly generous program. It seemed like a good idea when oil was $100 a barrel.”  With oil prices currently at around $27 per barrel, the Walker administration wants to pivot away from tax credits — many of which the state repurchases from companies — and instead focus on creating a loan program to back companies developing petroleum resources.

Illinois–   Several bills were introduced in the Illinois House on January 27.

HB 4545 creates the Manufacturing Job Destination Tax Credit Act and amends the Illinois Income Tax Act. It provides for a credit of 25% of the Illinois labor expenditures made by a manufacturing company in order to foster job creation and retention in Illinois. The Department of Revenue is authorized to award a tax credit to taxpayer-employers who apply for the credit and meet the certain Illinois labor expenditure requirements. The bill sets minimum requirements and procedures for certifying a taxpayer as an “accredited manufacturer” and for awarding the credit.

HB 4544 would amend the Illinois Income Tax Act to authorize a credit to taxpayers for 10% of stipends or salaries paid to qualified college interns. The credit is limited to stipends and salaries paid to 5 interns each year, and limits total credits to $3,000 for all years combined. The bill provides that the credit may not reduce the taxpayer’s liability to less than zero and may not be carried forward or back.

Finally, HB 4546 would amend the Service Occupation Tax Act and the Retailers’ Occupation Tax Act to provide that, by March 1, 2017, and by March 1 of each year thereafter, each business located in an enterprise zone may apply with the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for a rebate in an amount not to exceed 1% of the amount of tax paid by the business under the Acts during the previous calendar year for the purchase of tangible personal property from a retailer or serviceman located in Illinois. The legislation provides that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity shall pay the rebates from moneys appropriated for that purpose.

Indiana– SB 125 introduced on January 5 would resurrect a program that has struggled to maintain political support since it was proposed in 2005. The bill would allow a refundable credit for qualified in-state production expenditures of at least $50,000. The program would be open to producers of films, television programs, audio recordings and music videos, advertisements, and other media for marketing or commercial use. It excludes obscene content and television coverage of news and athletic events.

For expenditures of less than $6 million, the credit would be equal to 35 percent of those expenses, or 40 percent of expenditures in an economically distressed location. For qualified production expenditures of at least $6 million, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation would be tasked with setting the credit level, which could not exceed 15 percent. Those credits would also need to be preapproved by the agency.

The bill takes a broad approach to defining expenditures but excludes wages, salaries, and benefits paid to directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors who do not live in Indiana. The program would be capped at $2.5 million annually and sunset at the end of 2019. It also includes clawback provisions preventing taxpayers from claiming unused credits and requiring them to repay any credits that have already been claimed if they fail to satisfy the bill’s conditions.

Maryland- On January 27, Maryland Governor Hogan proposed a series of education-focused legislative proposals including an education tax credit. The proposed tax credit would be provided to private citizens, businesses, and nonprofits that make donations to public and non-public schools to support basic education needs such as books, supplies, technology, academic tutoring, tuition assistance, and special needs services. The credit would also target the promotion of pre-K programs and enrollment. The credit would be awarded through the Department of Commerce with the total level of credits phased in over three years to $15 million in fiscal year 2018.

Massachusetts– On January 27, Massachusetts Governor introduced legislation (H 3978) which would restore the film tax credit to the structure when the credit was introduced in 2005 and use the revenue generated to increase the annual cap on the low-income housing tax credit by $5 million, and to phase-in over four years the use of single-factor apportionment for all corporate taxpayers who do business in more than one state.

New Jersey– Governor Christie conditionally vetoed on January 11 two Senate bills that would have renewed the recently expired film tax credit program.  The vetoed Senate bills, S 779 and S 1952, would have renewed the recently expired film tax credit program, funding the program at $60 million annually for seven years.  The film tax credit program that expired in 2015 allowed production companies to claim up to a 20 percent tax credit on expenses.

In his veto message, Christie called the bills expensive and said they offer “a dubious return for the State in the form of jobs and economic impact, and that I believe we should consider, if at all, during the upcoming budget negotiation process.”

Senate Democrats issued a joint statement claiming that Christie supports tax credits for big companies “but when it comes to an industry that helps small local businesses he looks the other way.” The senators said that by not reauthorizing the film tax credit program, Christie is starving the film industry in New Jersey and making the state uncompetitive with neighboring states.

New Jersey– L. 2016, S2880, effective 01/19/2016, provides up to $25 million in Economic Redevelopment and Growth Grant (ERG) tax credits to Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, for eligible projects including buildings and structures, open space with improvements, and transportation facilities. The law also raises the ERG program cap from $600 million to $625 million.

New Jersey– L. 2016, S3182, effective 01/19/2016, permits a 2-year extension for a developer of a “qualified residential project” or “qualified business facility” to submit documentation to the New Jersey Economic Development Authority supporting its credit amount under the Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit program. The law also provides an additional two years for developers to submit information on the credit amount certified for any tax period, the failure of which subjects the amount to forfeiture. In addition, the law permits a one-year extension for a developer of a qualified residential project to submit documentation of having received a temporary certificate of occupancy to receive tax credits under the Economic Redevelopment and Growth Grant program. The deadline for a business to submit documentation that it met the capital investment and employment requirements under the Grow New Jersey Assistance Program (for a credit applications made before July 1, 2014), is extended to July 28, 2018.

New Jersey– L. 2016, S3232, effective 01/11/2016, allows certain businesses that have previously been approved for a grant under the Business Employment Incentive Program (BEIP) to direct the New Jersey Economic Development Authority to convert the grant to a tax credit. The law provides an alternative means to satisfy the backlog of unpaid grant obligations, approved before the phase out of the BEIP, due to fiscal constraints. Requests to convert grants to tax credits must be made within 180 days of the law’s enactment. The law also establishes a priority for issuing the tax credits favoring older outstanding grant obligations.

Virginia– The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has amended regulations 17 VAC §§ 10‐30‐10 through 10‐30‐160, effective February 10, 2016. The numerous amendments relating to the historic rehabilitation tax credit include the requirement to provide certain information on the “Evaluation of Significance” on the Historic Preservation Certification Application. The requirement for an independent audit reporting and review procedures is increased to $500,000 or greater, and for projects with rehabilitation expenses of less than $500,000 an agreed upon procedures engagement report by an independent accountant must be used. The fee structure for processing rehabilitation certification requests has been revised, and the fees charged by the Department for reviewing rehabilitation certification requests have also been increased. The entitlement to the credit has been changed from January 1, 1997 to January 1, 2003; consequently, the section on projects begun before 1997 has been updated to reflect the new 2003 date. The amendments also added or modified certain definitions.

Washington– With the backing of unions, HB 2638 was introduced on January 18 which would require Boeing to keep its in-state employment levels near a 2013 baseline for the company to claim the full value of a reduced business and occupation (B&O) tax rate and the B&O tax credit for aerospace product expenditures.

The legislation, similar to the failed HB 2147 from 2015, is a reaction to what labor and other critics say is the loss of thousands of Boeing jobs in Washington since lawmakers in 2013 extended the aerospace industry tax incentives from 2024 to 2040.

HB 2147 was reintroduced in this session, but HB 2638 is the proposal proponents intend to pursue this year. HB 2638 would set a baseline of 83,295 in-state employees, roughly the same as the company’s 2013 Washington workforce. After Boeing’s workforce falls 4,000 below that level — which has already happened — the value of the tax incentives would be cut in half. If Boeing’s workforce falls to 5,000 fewer than the baseline, the company would pay normal B&O tax rates and lose the ability to claim the tax credit.  HB 2638 is less incremental than HB 2147, which would have increased the B&O tax rate closer to normal by 2.5 percent for every 250 employees below the baseline.

Case Law

California– In a case in which Ryan U.S. Tax Services, LLC (Ryan), a tax advisory and site selection firm, challenged the validity of a regulation concerning contingent fee practitioners advising taxpayers who submit applications for the California Competes Tax Credit, the California Superior Court, Sacramento County, has said that it will grant Ryan’s petition and request for declaratory relief. Cal. Rev. & Tax. Cd. § 17059.2 and Cal. Rev. & Tax. Cd. § 23689 (sometimes hereinafter referred to as the statutes) each set forth 11 factors on which the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) is to allocate the credit.  GO-Biz also adopted regulations to implement the credit program, including the application process for tax credit allocation. Cal. Code Regs. 10 § 8030(b)(10) requires applicants for tax credits to provide certain information on the tax form, including the name of any consultant providing services related to the credit application, the consultant’s fee structure and cost of services, and whether payment to the consultant is influenced by whether a credit is awarded.

Moreover, Cal. Code Regs. 10 § 8030(g)(2)(H) provides that GO-Biz will evaluate any other information requested in the application, including but not limited to the reasonableness of the fee arrangement between the applicant and any consultant and it further provides that any contingent fee arrangement must result in a fee that is no more than a reasonable hourly rate for services. Ryan contended, among other things, that the regulation is inconsistent with the statutes because it expands the qualifications for tax credit applicants, that is, it adds to the exclusive list of 11 qualifying factors in the statutes a new factor, the amount of consultant fees paid by tax credit applicants. GO-Biz argued that the legislature delegated to it broad authority to fill in the details of the tax credit program, and while the statutes do not explicitly list consultant fees as a consideration, they fall within the scope of the factor that authorizes GO-Biz to consider the extent to which the anticipated tax benefit to the state exceeds the projected benefit to the taxpayer from the tax credit (Cal. Rev. & Tax. Cd. § 17059.2(a)(2)(K); Cal. Rev. & Tax. Cd. § 23689(a)(2)(K)) by ensuring that tax credits are used for job creation and are not unnecessarily diverted to unreasonable consultant fees.

The court agreed with Ryan that the regulation was invalid. Limiting consultant fees does not preserve tax credits or ensure that tax credits will be used to create new, good-paying jobs. The statutes provide the 11 factors to be used in allocating credits. The cost of a consultant’s services is a matter between the taxpayer and the consultant. Even if the statutes are construed as allowing GO-Biz to consider whether consultant fee arrangements are reasonable, the court found that the regulation’s de facto ban on contingent fee arrangements to be arbitrary and not reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes of the statutes because it effectively disqualifies businesses that have contingent fee arrangements with their consultants from receiving the credit. The court will enter judgment in the case after a formal judgment is prepared, approved, and signed. (Ryan U.S. Tax Services, LLC v. State of California, Cal. Super. Ct. (Sacramento County), Dkt. No. 34-2014-00167988, 01/07/2016.)

Kansas– The Kansas Department of Revenue ruled that a third party cannot furnish electric service or enter into a solar power purchase agreement (PPA) with a Kansas homeowner, as the Retail Electric Suppliers Act (RESA) prohibits the furnishing of electric service by any person or company other than the certified public utility for a particular territory, and so it was moot whether the charges a non-utility billed to a Kansas customer were taxable. The Department declined to speculate about the potential answer should the Kansas Legislature sometime authorize non-utilities to enter into PPAs, but the company was encouraged to resubmit the question if it is not directly answered by the legislation should such PPA agreements be legalized. (Kansas Opinion Letter No. O-2016-001, , 01/25/2016 .)

Kentucky– The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky has ruled that a Noah’s Ark-themed tourist attraction cannot be denied sales tax incentives by Kentucky on grounds that the project advanced religion in violation of First Amendment protection from state establishment of religion. The Court found that the religious-based theme park met the neutral criteria for the tax incentives and, therefore, the state could not deny the incentives for Establishment Clause reasons. In addition, in denying the tax incentives, the state violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. Consequently, the Court enjoined the state of Kentucky and its Tourism, Arts, and Heritage Cabinet from applying the Tourism Development Act in a way that excludes Ark Encounter from the program based on its religious purpose and message or based on its desire to utilize any exception in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act for which it qualifies concerning the hiring of its personnel.Ark Encounter, LLC, et al. v. Parkinson, et al., U.S. Dist. Ct. (E.D. KY), Dkt. No. 15-13-GFVT, 01/25/2016.

Article By Jennifer Zimmerman of Horwood Marcus & Berk Chartered
© Horwood Marcus & Berk Chartered 2016. All Rights Reserved.

Attention Tenants! Grow-NJ Tax Credits Without Prevailing Wage

Giordano Halleran Ciesla Logo

A little known regulation makes a big difference for tenants taking less than 55% of a leased facility. Namely, these tenants may be eligible to receive millions of dollars of monetizable corporate income tax credits under New Jersey’s Grow-NJ Program, without having to comply with that program’s prevailing wage mandate. For many, especially suburban tenants, that equates to a great deal of free money.

Grow-NJ is economic incentive program born out of the New Jersey Economic Opportunity Act of 2013 (L. 2013, c. 161) (“EOA”) and administered by the New Jersey Economic Development Agency (“NJEDA”). The goal of the program is to encourage businesses to either stay in or relocate to New Jersey. The program does this by offering tax credits for each job created or retained that range from $500 to $5000 per job, depending on the scope, location, and industry of the project.

However, the EOA specifies that each Grow-NJ recipient must agree to pay the “prevailing wage” to its contractors. The “prevailing wage” is that wage and fringe benefit rate based on collective bargaining agreements established for a particular craft or trade in the locality where the project is taking place. In New Jersey, prevailing wage rates vary by county and statewide and by the type of work performed.

Paying the “prevailing wage” can increase the cost of tenant work by 20% to 30% over non-prevailing wage. Though less of a concern in urban areas where tenants are likely to use union workers, in suburban areas, paying the “prevailing wage” may add substantial costs to the project. Depending on size of the award, this added cost may negate the value of the tenant’s Grow-NJ tax credits.

However, the NJEDA’s regulations provide an important exception to Grow-NJ’s prevailing wage requirements. Under the N.J.A.C. 19:30-4.2, the prevailing wage need not be paid on any project where:

(1) It is performed on a facility owned by a landlord of the entity receiving the assistance;

(2) The landlord is a party to the construction contract; and

(3) Less than 55 percent of the facility is leased by the entity at the time of the contract and under any agreement to subsequently lease the facility.

Because of this regulation, tenants taking less than 55% of a leased facility may be able to benefit from Grow-NJ’s tax credits, without paying “prevailing wage” for their fit-out.

Article By:

Michael A. Bruno
Steven P. Gouin
Of:
Giordano, Halleran & Ciesla, P.C.