Policy Issues

The Real Estate Roundtable submitted extensive comments to Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today that address various clean energy tax incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed by Congress in August,

Download letter

The Roundtable’s comments are in response to recent IRS notices on a host of issues affecting CRE. [Roundtable Weekly, Oct. 7 and Roundtable Fact Sheet, Sept. 20]. The letter requests further guidance and clarifications that would:

• Allow businesses to “layer” multiple credits and deductions on the same buildings;
  
  
• Support building retrofits that contemplate an asset’s “conversion,” such as from multifamily to office, within the revised building efficiency incentive under Section 179D;
  
  
• Maximize installations of solar, wind, and other technologies to feed renewable power to buildings onsite—while also allowing property owners to “sell” excess generation back to the grid;
  
  
• Optimize clean power deployment in low-income housing and economically distressed areas;
  
  
• Offer a “safe harbor” for employers seeking the IRA’s credit boosts when they pay prevailing wages to laborers and mechanics involved in energy project construction and installation; and
  
  
• Capitalize on changes to the tax code that would allow REITs, partnerships, and other businesses to “transfer” certain clean energy credits to third parties.  

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