Solar & Renewable Energy Tax Credits

On Wednesday February 26, House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) released his long-awaited draft Tax Reform Act of 2014. The draft legislation contains many significant provisions relating to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and would also repeal the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit and various renewable energy credits.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a new report entitled “Corporate Tax Expenditures: Information on Estimated Revenue Losses and Related Federal Spending Programs.” The report comes out as the U.S. Congress begins more serious consideration of tax reform. Presumably the data will be used to inform decisions as the topic is debated further and could have an impact on various programs utilized by NH&RA members. The report does not make any policy recommendations or endorsements regarding specific programs but does outline costs, revenue forgone and provides a basis for comparison acorss budget functions.

After months of stalemate on December 31 (US Senate) and January 1 (US House of Representatives) respectively, has passed HR 8, The American Taxpayer Relief Act, which addresses the tax provisions of the “fiscal cliff.” The legislation is expected to be signed into law by President Obama imminently. The legislation includes a number of tax extenders including extensions of most of the expiring “Bush-era” income tax rates, a permanent “patch” for the alternative minimum tax, and most notably for NH&RA members extensions of the New Markets Tax Credit and the fixed 9 percent rate for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit through 2013. The measure also postpones sequestration, automatic spending cuts to government spending that was set to occur in January, by two months to allow time for further negotiation.

The National Housing & Rehabilitation Association, in association with the National Trust Community Investment Corporation, honored developers, architects and historic preservation professionals that brought new life to ten historic buildings through its awarding of the 2012 J. Timothy Anderson Awards for Excellence in Historic Rehabilitation.

The Treasury Department’s 2012″“2013 Priority Guidance Plan contains 317 projects that are priorities for allocation of the resources of its offices during the twelve-month period from July 2012 through June 2013 (the plan year). Several items pertain to the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, New Markets Tax Credit and various energy credits.

NH&RA was pleased to welcome over 200 industry professionals to our 2012 Fall Developers Forum. All conference materials including Power Point presentations, reports, memos and articles from the conference are available for download.

The National Housing & Rehabilitation Association (NH&RA) has announced five winners and ten finalists across ten competitive categories for this year’s J. Timothy Anderson Awards for Excellence in Historic Rehabilitation. The “Timmy Awards” will be presented at an awards luncheon and ceremony on Tuesday, October 30 at the Langham Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, held in conjunction with the association’s Annual Fall Developers Forum. The winners and finalists represent fourteen different communities in ten states””Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia””as well as the District of Columbia.

The Senate Finance Committee recently held a markup hearing to discuss the Family and Business Tax Cut Certainty Act of 2012 which includes more than $205 billion in tax cut extensions for families and businesses. The bill, which passed the Committee by a margin of 19 to 5, would extend the new markets tax credit (NMTC) program for two years, through 2013, permitting up to $3.5 billion in qualified equity investments for each of calendar years 2012 and 2013.

U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) recently introduced the Wind Powering American Jobs Act (HR 6031) which would extend the production tax credit for wind energy through 2013. The bill would also extend the option for wind project developers to choose a 30 percent investment tax credit until 2014.

The House Ways and Means Select Revenue Subcommittee recently held a hearing on tax extenders in which a few members specifically expressed support for the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) and Wind Production Tax Credit programs.

The Obama Administration released its FY 2013 budget on February 13, 2012, proposing spending levels for federal departments, agencies, and programs for the fiscal year that begins October 1, 2012. Click here for background on the federal budget process.

The U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee Chairman Pat Tiberi (R-OH) recently announced they will begin holding hearings on tax extenders in April.