2024 in Clean Energy Tax Credits: Year in Review

Throughout 2024, the Treasury Department and the IRS provided new guidance on key provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act to provide clarity and certainty to taxpayers and support the deployment of critical clean energy technologies. These regulatory efforts are just one part of a wide range of activities implementing the Inflation Reduction Act tax credits, which are lowering energy costs and making clean energy more affordable for millions of Americans.

Since the passage of the IRA, Treasury and the IRS have issued over 80 pieces of guidance, totaling over 4,100 pages, for the tax credit provisions in the IRA. These tax credits, along with the rest of the Biden-Harris Investing in America Agenda, have unleashed hundreds of billions of dollars in private-sector clean energy investments and created hundreds of thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs since the start of the Administration.

Since January, the IRS and Treasury Department have issued the following guidance (and more) on key clean energy provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act:

• Notice 2024-20  providing guidance on the Qualified Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit (Section 30C);
• Final Regulations providing guidance for applicable entities using elective pay, commonly known as “direct pay”;
• Final Regulations on transferability of clean energy credits;
• Notice 2024-30 providing certain rules expanding eligibility for the Energy Community Bonus Credit for the production and investment tax credits;
• Revenue Procedure 2024-19 clarifying requirements for solar and wind powered energy facilities in low-income communities;
• Notice 2024-36 providing guidance for the second round of allocations under the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit Program (48C);
• Final Regulations providing guidance for the new and previously owned clean vehicle credits (25E and 30D);
• Notice 2024-41 to modify an existing safe harbor and to provide a new elective safe harbor for determining the Domestic Content Bonus Credit amounts;
• Proposed Regulations providing guidance for owners of qualified clean electricity facilities and energy storage technology seeking to claim the Clean Electricity Production and Investment Credits (45Y and 48E);
• Notice 2024-49 providing registration requirements for the Clean Fuel Production Credit (45Z);
• Notice 2024-48 providing additional guidance on the Energy Community Bonus Credit;
• Revenue Procedure 2024-26 providing additional procedures for qualified manufacturers to submit attestations, certifications and documentation demonstrating compliance with certain requirements related to the credit for new clean vehicles (30D);
• Final Regulations on the prevailing wage and apprenticeship (PWA) requirements related to increased credit or deduction amounts for certain clean energy incentives;
• Notice 2024-60 providing guidance on the credit for the sequestration of carbon oxide (45Q);
• Proposed Regulations providing guidance for the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit (30C).
• Notice 2024-74 providing additional guidance on the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) credit (40B);
• Revenue Procedure 2024-31 and Proposed Regulations to provide guidance for the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (25C);
• Final Regulations providing guidance for the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (45X);
• Final Regulations that will help certain entities that co-own clean energy projects access clean energy tax credits through elective pay;
• Notice 2024-84, which extends a procedural transition rule for entities claiming the clean energy Production or Investment Tax Credits (45, 45Y, 48, 48E) through elective pay, commonly known as direct pay; and
• Final Regulations for the Investment Tax Credit (48 ITC).

As stated in October 2024 remarks by Aviva Aron-Dine, Performing the Duties of Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, the Treasury Department and the IRS anticipate issuing additional guidance by the end of the Administration, including final regulations implementing the technology-neutral Clean Electricity Production and Investment Tax Credits (45Y and 48E), the technology-neutral Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program (48E(h)), and the Clean Hydrogen Production Credit (45V), as well as additional guidance on the Clean Fuel Production Credit (45Z).

Under President Biden and Vice President Harris, companies have announced more than $450 billion in new clean energy investments, more than 400,000 new clean energy jobs have been added to the economy, and the United States has added more than 100 gigawatts of new clean energy – enough to power more than 25 million homes.