When the Wall Street bailout plan initially failed to pass in the House of Representatives in late September, Senate leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell quickly amended it with sweeteners to attract more congressional votes. Among the sweeteners were several energy-related tax incentives that had previously stalled, primarily because the House and Senate couldn’t agree on how to fund them. The revised bailout bill, H.R. 1424, officially known as the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008,” did pass and includes several items of interest to architects and their clients.
One is a five-year extension, to 2013, of the portion of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that gives building owners a tax deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot for “greening” new or existing commercial buildings. For public buildings, the designers, not the owners, may claim the deduction. The law also extends, to 2016, the tax credits for 30 percent of solar investments. The credit for businesses now applies to public utilities, and for residential solar installations, the $2,000 cap has been removed.
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