1) Aug 30 -- The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Treasury, posts this notice of proposed rulemaking and public hearing.
This document contains proposed regulations regarding increased credit or deduction amounts available for taxpayers satisfying prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship (collectively, PWA) requirements established by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). These proposed regulations would affect taxpayers intending to satisfy the PWA requirements for increased Federal income tax credits or deductions. These proposed regulations would also affect taxpayers intending to satisfy the prevailing wage requirements for increased Federal income tax credit amounts that do not have associated apprenticeship requirements. Additionally, these proposed regulations would affect taxpayers who initially fail to satisfy the PWA or prevailing wage requirements and subsequently comply with the correction and penalty procedures in order to be deemed to satisfy the PWA or prevailing wage requirements. Finally, the proposed regulations address specific PWA or prevailing wage recordkeeping and reporting requirements. The proposed regulations would affect taxpayers intending to claim increased credit or deduction amounts pursuant to the IRA, including those intending to make elective payment elections for available credit amounts, and those intending to transfer increased credit amounts. This document also provides notice of a public hearing on the proposed regulations.
Written or electronic comments and requests for a public hearing must be received by October 30, 2023. A public hearing on these proposed regulations is scheduled to be held on November 21, 2023, at 10 a.m. ET.
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-18514 [37 pages]
2) Aug 29 [press release] -- As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today released proposed rules and FAQs on key provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act to ensure clean energy jobs are good-paying jobs and that we are building a robust, diverse pipeline of workers to take on the opportunities created by the Inflation Reduction Act’s investments.
The Inflation Reduction Act’s prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship requirements apply to many of the clean energy deployment tax incentives under the law, including for the clean energy investment and production tax credits that help finance utility-scale wind, solar, and battery storage projects as well as for the credits for carbon capture, utilization, and storage and clean hydrogen projects. If the prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship requirements are satisfied, a taxpayer can claim an enhanced credit or deduction equal to up to five times the value of the regular credit or deduction.
While prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements have existed for more than 100 years and have long applied to projects supported by federal contracts, the Inflation Reduction Act applied these requirements to clean energy tax incentives for the first time. The requirements have been in effect since January 29, 2023—60 days after Treasury and the IRS released initial guidance—but the proposed rules in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) released today would provide employers and workers with more clarity and direction on proposed IRS guardrails, incentivize employers to adopt worker-centric practices, and ensure compliance is streamlined. Importantly, the Treasury Department’s guidance, which was developed in consultation with the U.S. Department of Labor, contains new proposed rules regarding how to correct failures to meet the requirements and substantiate compliance to ensure workers are well-paid and expand the clean energy workforce. The proposed rules would also provide incentives for taxpayers to use qualifying Project Labor Agreements that meet certain criteria to meet the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements, enabling this well-established tool to be used more extensively in the clean energy industry.
This guidance marks the end of the first phase of the Treasury Department’s implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy provisions, along with proposed rules and other guidance on the consumer clean vehicle credit, the energy communities bonus, the domestic content bonus, the low-income communities allocated bonus, and direct pay and transferability. These provisions represent the core elements needed to accelerate significant economic and climate benefits and to provide clarity and certainty to companies and other entities planning investments and projects. . . .
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1708