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Market Intel & Insights
Reunion

Reunion

April 26, 2024

S&P Global - Biden's Tax Credit 'Transferability' Pours Billions into Renewables, Storage

A multibillion-dollar market for clean energy tax credits has materialized in a matter of months, sparked by a provision of President Joe Biden's marquee climate law that allows project developers and manufacturers to directly sell their credits for cash.

Market Intel & Insights

For Buyers

For Sellers

Due Diligence & Risk Management
Billy Lee

Billy Lee

May 17, 2024

What Corporate Tax Teams Need to Know About Prevailing Wage and Apprenticeship Requirements

A key area of due diligence when purchasing clean energy tax credits is to ensure that the project complies with prevailing wage and apprenticeship (PWA) requirements.

Due Diligence & Risk Management

For Buyers

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) greatly expanded energy-related federal income tax credits and created Internal Revenue Code Section 6418, which allows eligible taxpayers to transfer, or sell, certain clean energy tax credits to unrelated parties for cash.

One key area of due diligence when purchasing a tax credit is to ensure that the project complies with prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements (PWA), which the IRA introduced to encourage a robust market for well-paying clean energy jobs.

Clean energy projects that comply with PWA requirements receive a five-times multiplier on the value of tax credits. If a tax credit buyer purchases a credit that later is found not to comply with PWA requirements, the buyer will face a recapture of the increased tax credit amount.

Buyers of tax credits should understand PWA requirements and the documentation required to ensure compliance. Buyers should also mitigate the risk of recapture due to PWA noncompliance with careful due diligence, contractual protections (including provisions requiring the tax credit seller to compensate the buyer for PWA noncompliance), and tax credit insurance.

How PWA applies to each credit type

All but one of the IRA’s eleven transferable tax credits are subject to PWA requirements; the exception is the Section 45X advanced manufacturing production credit (AMPC). The following table shows how long PWA compliance is required for each credit.

Credit Duration of PWA requirement
Section 30C ITC During construction
Section 45 and 45Y PTC During construction and ten years after project is placed in service (PIS)
Section 45Q PTC During construction and twelve years after PIS
Section 45U PTC During any alteration or repair; apprentices are not required at any point
Section 45V PTC During construction and ten years after PIS
Section 45X PTC Not applicable
Section 45Z PTC During construction and ten years after PIS, unless the facility is placed in service before January 1, 2025; then, only for tax years in which the credit is claimed
Section 48 and 48E ITC During construction and five years after PIS
Section 48C ITC While reequipping, expanding, or establishing a facility

Projects that comply with PWA requirements receive a tax credit five times greater than non-PWA-compliant projects. For example, a solar project with a $100 million cost basis qualifies for a base tax credit amount of $6 million (assuming a Section 48 ITC). If the project meets PWA compliance, the tax credit amount increases to $30 million.

If a tax credit buyer purchases a credit that later is determined not to comply with PWA requirements, then the Internal Revenue Service will recapture the PWA multiplier portion of the credits, which is equivalent to eighty percent of the tax credit value — for example, $24 million of a $30 million credit. For Section 48 ITCs, the recapture is applied to the unvested portion of the credit (the ITC vests twenty percent annually over a five-year period).

As a result, buyers of tax credits must perform proper diligence on projects to ensure that the project will not later be found to fail to comply with PWA requirements.

Summary of PWA requirements

Prevailing wage requirements

Prevailing wage rules require that certain workers be paid a minimum prevailing wage specified by the US Department of Labor (DOL). The DOL publishes a list of prevailing wages on www.sam.gov according to geographic location, labor classification, and type of construction. It is also important to use the correct wage determination based on timing of work, which is primarily driven by when construction begins.

If no applicable published wage rate is available, the taxpayer or project developer must request a supplemental wage determination from the DOL.

Apprenticeship requirements

The apprenticeship rules require that a certain percentage of labor hours during construction, alteration, or repair for a project be performed by a qualified apprentice. The minimum percentage of hours that must be performed by qualified apprentices is:

  • 12.5% for projects that began construction in 2023
  • 15.0% for projects that begin construction in 2024 or later

Two exceptions to PWA compliance

The IRA includes two general exceptions to PWA requirements — the “beginning of construction” exception and the “one megawatt” exception. Projects that meet one of these exceptions receive the five-times credit multiplier without necessarily paying prevailing wages and employing qualified apprentices. Specifically:

  • Beginning of construction: Projects that began construction before January 29, 2023, are generally exempt from the wage and apprenticeship rules, except for credits under Sections 48C and 45Z
  • One megawatt: Projects under Sections 45 and 48 (and their replacements under Sections 45Y and 48E) are exempt from PWA if the maximum net output is less than one megawatt or the capacity of electrical or equivalent thermal storage is less than one megawatt

PWA information developers should collect and maintain

In its August 2023 guidance, the Treasury provided a list of required and recommended documentation for PWA compliance. All documentation should cover every person working on the project, including contractors and subcontractors. Subcontractors may be several companies removed from the actual sponsor of the project.

Required PWA information

According to the IRS guidance from August 2023, PWA documentation must include “payroll records for each laborer and mechanic (including each qualified apprentice) employed by the taxpayer, contractor, or subcontractor employed.”

Recommended PWA information

The IRS also recommends collecting additional documentation. Nine of the recommended items relate to wages — including the name, social security number, address, and email address for each laborer and mechanic — and five items relate to apprentices. Buyers should require this optional documentation, which can be found in Proposed Regulations Section 1.45-12(b) and (c).

Additionally, the PWA’s proposed labor requirements have significant overlap with the Davis- Bacon Act — a nearly century-old federal law. Some project developers document certified payroll, a practice required for federal projects subject to Davis-Bacon rules, although not required under the IRA. Each employee on the certified payroll must receive weekly payment for work performed and must have their legal name, address, correct job classification, rate of prevailing wage pay, daily hours worked, weekly hours worked, and amount paid clearly recorded on the required certified payroll report. Other project developers use the certified payroll form, WH-347, when compiling and maintaining payroll records.

Opportunity to cure if a project fails to comply

If a clean energy project claims an increased PWA credit value and the IRS later determines the project did not meet PWA requirements, the tax credit is not automatically reduced to the base rate. A deficiency can be cured within 180 days after the IRS identifies a failure.

The seller of the tax credit has a strong incentive to cure any PWA issues, as it typically signs an indemnity to compensate the buyer in the event of a recapture of tax credits. The seller is also closer to the underlying compliance issue. That said, the buyer should require the seller to provide notification of any failure to meet PWA requirements; the buyer may want to step in and make penalty payments on behalf of the seller if there is substantial doubt as to whether the seller will make the cure.

Requirements for curing prevailing wage deficiencies

To cure prevailing wage defects, the taxpayer or project developer must:

  • Pay the affected laborers or mechanics the difference between what they were paid and the amount they were required to have been paid (multiplied by three for intentional disregard), plus interest at the federal short-term rate (as defined in IRC Section 6621) plus six percent; and
  • Pay a penalty to the IRS of $5,000 (or $10,000 for intentional disregard) for each laborer or mechanic who was not paid at the prevailing wage rate during the year
Requirements for curing apprenticeship deficiencies

To cure a failure to meet the apprenticeship requirements, project developers must pay a penalty of $50 multiplied by the total labor hours for which the apprenticeship requirements were not met. The amount of the penalty with respect to the apprenticeship requirements is also increased to $500 per labor hour if the IRS determines the failure was due to intentional disregard.

Buyers have several tools to mitigate risk of PWA noncompliance

Buyers should proactively manage risk concerning PWA compliance. Buyers have three primary risk management tools at their disposal:

  • Comprehensive due diligence
  • Properly structured tax credit transfer agreement (TCTA)
  • Tax credit insurance
Comprehensive due diligence

Proper and comprehensive due diligence is critical for tax credit purchasers.

Project developers currently document PWA in a variety of ways, from manual capture in spreadsheets to certifi ed payroll systems to the use of third-party consultants.

Buyers should understand the process by which PWA information is tracked so they can reconstruct payment records in the event of an IRS challenge. Each contractor and subcontractor should have a system in place to document payroll. In addition, proper records should be kept so workers who were underpaid can be located and compensated to cure any failure to meet PWA requirements.

In the case of the Section 48 ITC, the seller should also provide any information or compliance reports the IRS requires during the five-year recapture period.

Properly structured TCTA

Buyers bear the risk of any reduction in tax credit amount due to noncompliance with PWA. Buyers should ensure that the TCTA includes sufficient indemnity from the seller in the event of PWA noncompliance. The indemnity should make the buyer economically whole, including the cost of any penalties.

In addition, the TCTA should include several other clauses that protect tax credit buyers:

  • Representations and warranties: The seller has complied with or is exempt from all recordkeeping requirements relating to the PWA requirements
  • Indemnification: The seller’s indemnification obligations include any interest or penalties the IRS may impose because of PWA noncompliance
  • Conditions precedent to closing: The seller must furnish evidence the project has complied with PWA requirements
  • Post-closing obligations: The seller will comply with all laws and regulations required to qualify for and receive the PWA multiplier, including making the necessary filings, registrations, and elections with the IRS
Purchase tax credit insurance

Finally, tax credit insurance is available to mitigate the risk of noncompliance with PWA requirements. Tax credit insurance is recommended if the buyer has doubts about the ability of the seller to fulfill its indemnity obligation in the event of an IRS challenge. Tax credit insurance can be sized to make the buyer whole in the event the IRA imposes a penalty.

Conclusion

For corporate taxpayers, transferable tax credits represent a new opportunity to reduce federal tax liabilities and achieve a strong risk-adjusted return while providing much-needed capital to clean energy projects. However, buyers are responsible for financial penalties imposed by the IRS due to noncompliance with PWA requirements.

Tax credit buyers should proactively mitigate the risk of penalties with careful due diligence, contractual protections, and tax credit insurance, ensuring that they preserve the full financial benefi t of their tax credit purchase.

Regulatory & Compliance
Denis Cook

Denis Cook

April 30, 2024

Treasury and IRS Publish Final Tax Credit Transfer Regulations

The IRS and Treasury published final transferability regulations on April 30 that maintain the status quo.

Regulatory & Compliance

For Buyers

On April 25, the Treasury and IRS published final regulations for the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credit transfer mechanism. The IRS also published a press release and updated their transferability FAQs.

The final regulations carried few surprises – other than, perhaps, arriving earlier than some market participants predicted – and preserved the status quo set by the June 2023 guidance.

At Reunion, we welcomed this "non-event" and the clarity it provided, and wanted to highlight several key consistencies.

Highlights from the final regulations

Individuals, trusts, estates, and closely held C corporations remain largely on the sidelines

Despite “many comments” calling for a change, widely held C corporations will remain the primary buyers of transferable tax credits. While this decision will likely decrease overall liquidity in the tax credit market, it will also limit the potential for fraud and abuse.

Passive activity rules generally limit individuals, trusts, estates, and closely held C corporations to applying transferable tax credits to passive income – not active income. The final regulations did not adjust this stance. (However, a potential exception exists for certain closely held C corporations, which allows them to offset active income with tax credits.)

Deprecation cannot be transferred

The IRS did not change its stance on depreciation. As the FAQ states, “Only a taxpayer that has an ownership interest in the project may claim tax depreciation. Transferability does not allow depreciation benefits to be transferred.”

Bonus credits cannot be sold separately

The IRA created three bonus, or adder, credits, which can increase the value of a clean energy project’s tax credits:

  • Energy communities
  • Low-income communities
  • Domestic content

The Treasury’s June guidance stated that bonus credits cannot be sold separately from a project’s other credits. A developer cannot, in other words, sell its base credits to one company and its bonus credits – perhaps at a different price per credit – to another company.

Instead, all credits must be sold as “vertical slices” and be pari passu to one another. In practice, if a single project has multiple buyers for its credits, all buyers have the same risk exposure.

April’s regulations did not change the Treasury’s position. 

The "intends to purchase" provision remains unchanged

Tax credit buyers can still "take into account a specified credit portion that it has purchased, or intends to purchase, to calculate its estimated tax payments." Of course, buyers remain liable for any underpayments.

The regulations clarified that the "intends to purchase" language "illustrates that all the requirements of proposed §1.6418-2(b) do not have to be met for a transferee taxpayer to take the expected eligible credit into account in its estimated tax calculations."
Generators of §45X, §45V, and §45Q credits can make facility-specific elections for transferability or direct pay

An advanced manufacturer’s decision to use transferability or direct pay to monetize their §45X tax credits need not be binary. If a manufacturer has multiple facilities, they can make the transferability-or-direct-pay decision at the facility level. If a manufacturer only has one facility, however, their decision is binary.

The same optionality holds true for the §45V PTC for clean hydrogen and §45Q PTC carbon capture, although the timing of the election varies by credit:

  • §45V PTC: The direct pay/transfer election is made during the taxable year the qualified clean hydrogen production facility is placed in service
  • §45Q PTC: The direct pay/transfer election is made during the taxable year the “single process train” is placed in service 
  • §45X AMPC: The direct pay/transfer election is made during the taxable year in which eligible components are produced

Importantly, because the §45X election is made during the taxable year in which an eligible component is produced, production facilities that predated the IRS may be eligible for the credit.

Advanced cash payments for multi-year PTCs are not permitted – but borrowing against expected future tax credit payments is permitted

Although “upfront payments for PTCs determined in future taxable years are standard in tax equity transactions,” the final regulations stated that transferred PTCs must be paid for in cash one year at a time. This holds true for ten- and 12-year PTCs. 

Permitting advanced payments would “raise several complex legal and administrative issues, such as whether an excessive credit transfer has occurred or if the eligible taxpayer has gross income if prepaid eligible credits were not transferred in a later tax year."

On an encouraging note, the final regulations specifically state that “there is no prohibition on either a transferee taxpayer” – that is, a tax credit buyer – “or another third-party loaning funds to an eligible taxpayer, including loans secured by an eligible credit purchase and sale agreement.” 
Intermediaries can serve as brokers but not dealers

The final regulations, unsurprisingly, left unaltered the assumed role of tax credit intermediaries (like Reunion) in the transferability market. Intermediaries can serve as brokers and facilitators in tax credit transfers, helping to match and advise buyers and sellers. 

Intermediaries cannot, however, serve as dealers, effectively taking ownership of a tax credit with the intent of transferring/selling it again. 

“Required minimum documentation” remains the same

The final regulations acknowledge calls for an increase to the amount of required minimum documentation that an eligible taxpayer must provide to a transferee taxpayer to make a valid transfer. 

Nonetheless, the Treasury and IRS left the required minimum unchanged. Perhaps as a nod to the validity of increasing the required minimum, the final regulations remind market participants that, “...while the required minimum documentation requirements are the same for all taxpayers, any particular agreement between an eligible taxpayer and transferee taxpayer may go beyond the required minimum documentation based on the arrangement of the parties. The proposed regulations allowed sufficient flexibility for market participants to determine if more information is necessary in a particular transaction, while balancing the burden of producing the required minimum documentation required to make a transfer election.”

The final regulations also remind market participants that "§6418(g)(2)(B) specifically places a due diligence responsibility on the transferee taxpayer."

Improvements likely coming to the pre-registration portal

The IRS opened the tax credit pre-registration portal in December to significant fanfare. But, as with any brand-new IT system, there have been calls for improvement.

While the IRS would not commit to set application review times, it left the door open to "continue to review the efficiency of the registration portal, including functionality responses from the public, to determine whether changes should be implemented or whether additional guidance or publications should be issued."

Plenty more guidance to come in the next 20-ish business days

In Norton Rose Fulbright’s annual Cost of Capital call, the panelists aptly brought attention to the Congressional Review Act, which “is a tool Congress can use to overturn certain federal agency actions.”

With respect to the Inflation Reduction Act, an incoming Congress (backed by a Trump administration) could use the CRA to unwind IRA regulations that were issued within 60 legislative days of the previous Congress.  

Although the exact date for the beginning of the 60-day window remains to be seen, it’s potentially in late May or early June. This gives the Treasury and IRS a little over 20 business days to issue a backlog of IRA-related guidance and regulations. 

The IRS 2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan details what guidance the IRS is prioritizing through the end of the plan year, which is June 30, 2024.

Discuss the regulations with Reunion

Please contact Reunion's transactions team to understand how these final regulations could impact your organization's plans to purchase clean energy tax credits.

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Due Diligence & Risk Management
Connie Chern, CPA

Connie Chern, CPA

April 25, 2024

Buying §45X Advanced Manufacturing Production Credits & Due Diligence Considerations

A guide to buying §45X tax credits and conducting due diligence.

Due Diligence & Risk Management

For Buyers

For Sellers

The IRA created a new clean energy tax credit, the §45X AMPC

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 introduced a new class of production tax credit — the §45X advanced manufacturing production credit (AMPC). The credit is for eligible components produced and sold after December 31, 2022 and is transferable under §6418.

The §45X tax credit is generated via the production and sale of:

  • Sustainable energy components: Five categories of eligible sustainable energy components including solar modules, battery cells, or wind blades, nacelles, or towers
  • Critical minerals: 50 applicable critical minerals that attain a specified purity level

A list of eligible components, critical minerals, and related tax credit amounts is included below.

§45X transfers have taken off since the IRS issued guidance in December 2023

In December 2023, the Department of the Treasury released proposed regulations on §45X tax credits, which opened the door for transactions to begin.

Notably, Fiserv (NYSE: FI) agreed to purchase $700M in §45X tax credits from First Solar (NASDAQ: FSLR) at a price of $0.96 per dollar of credit, resulting in $28M of tax savings for the 2023 tax year. The public announcement of a large-scale transaction has led to significant interest from corporate buyers in §45X tax credits.

Key characteristics of §45X AMPCs

Generated over time

§45X AMCPs are generated on a rolling basis from the (i) production and sale of eligible components or the (ii) conversion of critical minerals to a specific purity level. As we'll discuss below, this opens the door for buyers to negotiate quarterly or monthly payment terms.

No recapture risk or prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirement

There is no recapture or prevailing wage and apprenticeship (PWA) provision, reducing risk associated with §45X tax credits.

Eligible for direct pay or transfer

As with §45Q and §45V credits, generators of §45X credits may elect to be treated as an “applicable entity” for the limited purpose of making an elective payment election, also known as direct pay.

Careful consideration should take place before electing in or out of direct pay for §45X credits. The election is rigid in that there are no partial elections:

  • The election applies to all eligible credits from the applicable facility, and
  • The election applies to the entire taxable year for which the election was made and all subsequent taxable years ending before January 1, 2033

Additionally, an electing taxpayer may file an irrevocable election to revoke the elective payment, but the revocation applies to the entire taxable year in which the election to revoke takes place and all subsequent taxable years remaining before January 1, 2033.

In short, AMPC generators may elect to take five years of direct pay with the IRS or transfer the credits to another taxpayer, and the ability to do both is significantly limited.

Commercial guidelines for buyers of transferred §45X tax credits

Sellers

Sellers of §45X tax credits range from large, multinational companies to smaller, domestic producers. Tax credit buyers may require sellers to procure tax credit insurance if there is uncertainty around their longevity and/or ability to cover indemnities relating to the sale of credits.

"Unaffiliated third party" buyers

In order to generate AMPCs from the production and sale of eligible components, buyers of manufactured components must be unaffiliated third parties unless a related party election has been made under §45X(a)(3)(B).

All sales must be for “productive purposes” and not solely to claim the §45X tax credit.

Pricing

In Q1 2024, median pricing to buyers ranged from $0.91 to $0.95 for single-year 45X credits. The relatively high pricing reflects the lower risk profile of AMPCs compared to investment tax credits (ITCs).

Drivers of larger price discounts include smaller transaction sizes, less established sellers, and forward contracts for credits that have not yet been generated.

Payment terms

AMPCs are sold in arrears of generation. Unless the AMPCs are sold in a single closing, most sellers will accept quarterly or monthly payment terms, allowing buyers to recognize the value of the credit before issuing payment to sellers.

Due diligence checklist for §45X tax credits

While §45X credits are not subject to PWA requirements and do not carry the same recapture or basis-related qualification risks as §48 ITCs, they do carry additional qualification risks that are absent from other, power generation-related tax credits such as the §45 production tax credit (PTC).

Buyers and their advisors should conduct due diligence on several core aspects of §45X tax credit qualification to avoid a situation where credits are improperly accounted for and subsequently disqualified — a risk that flows through to the buyer in a transferability transaction. 

Diligence point Required documentation Explanation
Correct credit amount Description of component type with technical specifications; copies of audited production and sales volumes. Section §45X provides a list of eligible components, their associated AMPC amount, and any design parameters / capacity limits that are required to qualify for credits. The production of eligible components must be completed in 2023 or later, and the tax year where credits may be claimed is driven by the year in which the sale is completed.
Ensure components were “produced by taxpayer” Third-party verification that the seller conducted “substantial transformation” of the related components. Copies of any contract manufacturing agreements. The credit is awarded only to the taxpayer who conducted the “substantial transformational” in a trade or business of the taxpayer. The regulations differentiate between “substantial transformation” versus “mere assembly” where the former is required to claim a credit. Parties to a contract manufacturing arrangement may choose who claims the credit by signed agreement prior to the completion of eligible components.
Domestic production Documentation of the physical location where the eligible component was produced. Only eligible components produced in the United States and its territories are eligible for a tax credit. Elements, sub-components, and materials used in the product of an eligible component are not subject to the domestic requirement.
No §48C investment tax credits Confirmation the facility is not claiming §48C investment tax credits anywhere in the assembly line for the §45X components. Facilities that claim §48C investment tax credits are only eligible for AMPCs if the assembly line for §45X eligible components operates independently from the §48C assembly line or factory.
Third-party sale for productive purposes Confirmation that components are sold, for a productive purpose, to third parties, or that a valid “related person election” is/will be filed with the IRS. Generally, §45X tax credits are only generated upon component sales to a third-party, so a sale to an affiliate would not generate a tax credit until subsequent resale by the affiliate to a third party. An annual election can be made with the IRS to treat an affiliate as a third party for purposes of determining §45X tax credits.

Eligible components and related §45X tax credit amounts

The table below shows the eligible components that qualify for §45X credits as well as the amount of tax credit.

Solar energy components
Eligible Component Value per Unit Unit
Thin film or crystalline photovoltaic cell $0.04 Capacity in Wdc
Photovoltaic wafer $12.00 Square meter
Solar-grade polysilicon $3.00 Kilogram
Polymeric backsheet $0.40 Square meter
Solar module $0.07 Capacity in Wdc

Wind energy components
Eligible Component Value per Unit Unit
Related offshore wind vessel 10% Sales price of vessel
Blade $0.02 Watt of completed turbine capacity
Nacelle $0.05 Watt of completed turbine capacity
Tower $0.03 Watt of completed turbine capacity
Offshore wind foundation using fixed platform $0.02 Watt of completed turbine capacity
Offshore wind foundation using floating platform $0.04 Watt of completed turbine capacity

Torque tube and structural fastener components
Eligible Component Value per Unit Unit
Torque tube $0.87 Kilogram
Structural fastener $2.28 Kilogram

Inverter components
Eligible Component Value per Unit Unit
Central inverter $0.0025 AC watt capacity
Utility inverter $0.015 AC watt capacity
Commercial inverter $0.02 AC watt capacity
Residential inverter $0.065 AC watt capacity
Microinverter or distributed wind inverter $0.11 AC watt capacity

Electrode active materials
Eligible Component Value per Unit Unit
Electrode active materials 10% Costs incurred by the taxpayer with respect to the production of electrode active materials

Battery components
Eligible Component Value per Unit Unit
Battery cell $35.00 Capacity in kWh (limitations apply - see instructions to IRS Form 7207)
Battery module which uses battery cells $10.00 Capacity in kWh (limitations apply - see instructions to IRS Form 7207)
Battery module which does not use battery cells $45.00 Capacity in kWh (limitations apply - see instructions to IRS Form 7207)

Critical minerals

For critical minerals, the tax credit value is 10% of the production cost. §1.45X-4 of the proposed regulations clarifies what costs are includable or excludable in the 10% calculation.

Aluminum Antimony Arsenic
Barite Beryllium Bismuth
Cerium Cesium Chromium
Cobalt Dysprosium Erbium
Europium Fluorspar Gadolinium
Gallium Germanium Graphite
Hafnium Holmium Indium
Iridium Lanthanum Lithium
Lutetium Magnesium Manganese
Neodymium Nickel Niobium
Palladium Platinum Praseodymium
Rhodium Rubidium Ruthenium
Samarium Scandium Tantalum
Tellurium Terbium Thulium
Tin Titanium Tungsten
Vanadium Ytterbium Yttrium
Zinc Zirconium

Subject to a four-year phase-out (except for critical minerals)

With the exception of critical minerals, the amount of credit begins phasing out for sales occurring after December 31, 2029. As a result, the amount of tax credit is 75% for components sold during calendar year 2030, 50% for components sold during calendar year 2031, 25% for components sold during calendar year 2032, and 0% thereafter.

Learn more

Reunion is actively transferring §45X tax credits from a variety of clean energy manufacturers. To learn more about sourcing, diligencing, and purchasing §45X AMPCs, please contact Reunion's experienced transactions team.

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Due Diligence & Risk Management
Reunion

Reunion

May 17, 2024

Reunion's Process for Buying Transferable Clean Energy Tax Credits

Tax and treasury teams can purchase clean energy tax credits with confidence by working with Reunion on project selection, due diligence, and risk mitigation.

Due Diligence & Risk Management

For Buyers

The market for clean energy tax credit transfers has accelerated rapidly in 2024, as corporate tax and treasury leaders see a significant new opportunity to reduce tax liabilities and increase corporate cash availability.

A complete transferable clean energy tax credit transaction, from identifying the opportunity to closing the deal, can be summarized in seven key steps.

Green H4 Element

Step 1: Build your company's internal business case

Duration

Varies by company.

Goals and activities
Goals Key activities
Develop key tax credit purchase criteria and success measures Confirm your company's interest in a tax credit transfer that meets specific criteria – for instance, credit pricing, type (48 ITC, 45 PTC, 45X APMC), technology (solar, wind, battery storage, critical minerals), payment terms, indemnification and insurance
Align internal stakeholders Get an understanding of the needs of your tax, treasury, accounting, legal, and ESG teams. At the same time, understand who is ultimately resposible for the investment decision

How Reunion helps

Through an introductory call, Reunion's transactions team can equip your company with insights on eligibility, appropriateness, market dynamics, and risk. We can also help your team prepare a business case/investment committee memo and provide supporting materials. For larger organizations, Reunion has organized tax credit "workshops," which we have found are particularly effective for aligning multiple functional teams.

Key resources

Green H4 Element

Step 2: Identify and formally express interest in projects

Duration

One to three weeks.

Goals and activities
Goals Key activities
Identify project(s) Sign NDA to gain more information about tax credit opportunities available on the Reunion platform
Negotiate and sign term sheet(s) Formally express interest in a project through issuance and negotiation of term sheet, which defines key transaction terms and kicks off an exclusivity period

How Reunion helps

Reunion takes a "push" and "pull" approach when helping companies find projects that most align with their needs. On the "push" front, we curate a list of tax credit opportunities based on the criteria we identified in step one and share it with your team. For many companies, we do this on a rolling basis as new projects join our platform. On the "pull" front, we provide your team with access to our managed tax credit marketplace, where we have over $7B (and growing) in near-term tax credits available.

Once your team has the right project(s) in mind, Reunion will populate our form term sheet on your company's behalf. We'll levarage our market intelligence to ensure your proposal is competitive and assist you in negotiating key terms, like timing of payment, indemnification, and tax credit insurance.

Key resources

Green H4 Element

Step 3: Conduct Reunion-led preliminary due diligence

Duration

One to two weeks.

Goals and activities
Goals Key activities
Identify potential issues, if any, upfront before spending significant time and expense Review Reunion’s preliminary due diligence note to better understand potential risks and risk mitigation
Make a decision to proceed with the transaction Assess the risk / reward profile of the transaction

How Reunion helps

Reunion conducts a preliminary screen to identify any major issues up front ("fatal flaw" due diligence analysis). From that point, we consult with your team to assess risks and recommend appropriate mitigation strategies. Importantly, this step ensures alignment of incentives: we do not want to move a transaction forward unless there is a high probability of success.

We also provide validated market intelligence to compare your proposed transaction to the risk/reward profile of similar tax credit opportunities in the market.

Key resources

Green H4 Element

Step 4: Conduct comprehensive due diligence

Duration

Two to six weeks. The precise duration depends largely on the number and relatively complexity of projects in the transaction.

Goals and activities
Goals Key activities
Conduct comprehensive financial, legal and technical due diligence to gain comfort in moving forward with the transaction Ensure that proper due diligence has been performed on the project, covering the following topics: qualification, structure, recapture, prevailing wage and apprenticeship compliance, bonus credit adder qualification, and risk mitigants (indemnification and tax credit insurance)

How Reunion helps

Reunion spearheads the due diligence process by:

  • Reviewing documents provided by the Seller, and requesting any missing or incomplete information
  • Creating and organizing a data room, ensuring that due diligence documentation meets Reunion's checklist of required documentation
  • Reunion will produce a summary due diligence memorandum summarizing our findings and highlighting any areas of concern
  • If you are working with additional diligence advisors, Reunion will work closely with advisors to organize and accelerate their review process, reducing costs
Key resources
  • Due diligence checklist (by request)

Green H4 Element

Step 5: Procure tax credit insurance (if needed)

Duration

This step is optional and runs in parallel to step 4.

Goals and activities
Goals Key activities
Procure tax credit insurance to mitigate risk of tax credit disallowance or recapture Work with Reunion to ensure that tax credit insurance adequately covers desired risks. Ensure that insurance coverage levels are adequate in scope and amount

How Reunion helps

Reunion can help companies decide if insurance is an appropriate risk mitigation tool for their transaction. If we collectively determine that tax credit insurance makes sense, we can advise on insurance offerings, including the scope of coverage – e.g., structure, qualification, recapture, PWA, bonus credit adders – and where gaps might exist.

We can also help you validate that the insurance policy is appropriately sized and includes penalties and tax gross-up and contest costs.

Key resources

Green H4 Element

Step 6: Sign tax credit transfer agreement

Duration

This step runs in parallel to step 4.

Goals and activities
Goals Key activities
Negotiate and sign a tax credit transfer agreement Review the legal contract to ensure that Buyer and Buyer counsel are satisfied with the terms

How Reunion helps

Reunion streamlines the negotiation process for buyers and sellers by providing a template legal document and helping parties focus on the most pertinent deal topics.

Key resources

Green H4 Element

Step 7: Post-transaction support

Duration

Ongoing duration depending on credit type.

Goals and activities
Goals Key activities
Navigate various IRS filing deadlines in the months following the transaction File IRS paperwork and stay compliant with the follow up requirements. Stay up to date on the latest market trends

How Reunion helps

Our transactions team will issue both parties reminders about filing requirements and deadlines, including tax forms and compliance. In subsequent tax years/quarters, Reunion will provide early acccess to new deals.

Key resources

Green H4 Element

Get started

Reunion’s team of clean energy and tax credit experts are here to support you through the entire process of buying and conducting due diligence on  IRA tax credits. We draw on our deep expertise to help you navigate tax credit transactions, and our marketplace features the widest pool of tax credit opportunities available in the industry.

Our key differentiators include:

  • Widest pool of high quality tax credits: We curate opportunities from our $10B+ marketplace, featuring technologies and projects ranging from under $3M to $300m+
  • Extensive educational materials: We offer an extensive resource library featuring content on financial, legal, and market-related topics pertaining to IRA tax credits
  • Hands-on due diligence: We support buyers throughout the transaction process, ensuring that the due diligence is performed at high quality and that risks are minimized upfront, saving you time and expense
  • Industry-leading transaction team: Reunion has facilitated more than $2 billion in tax credit transfers in 2024. Our transaction team consists of industry veterans, with experience raising $5+ billion in clean energy project financing `with partners such as US Bank, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Key Bank, PNC, Nord/LB, D.E. Shaw, First Reserve, and over a dozen Fortune 500 companies
  • Market intelligence tools: Available upon request, we offer proprietary insights on tax credit pricing and data on key trends
Market Intel & Insights
Billy Lee

Billy Lee

April 16, 2024

Reunion's Quarterly Seller "Office Hours" for Clean Energy Developers and Manufacturers

Reunion is excited to host quarterly webinars for clean energy developers who would like to learn more about our marketplace and get a pulse on the overall transferability market.

Market Intel & Insights

For Sellers

Reunion is excited to host quarterly “office hours” for clean energy developers who would like to learn more about our marketplace and get a pulse on the overall transferability market.

Hosted on a quarterly basis

We will generally hold office hours on a quarterly basis and open registration one or two months in advance.

Quarter Date Time Registration Recording
Q2 2024 Thursday, May 2 2:00pm - 3:00pm ET Zoom YouTube
Q3 2024 Tuesday, August 20 2:00pm - 3:00pm ET Zoom
Q4 2024 TBD 2:00pm - 3:00pm ET
Q1 2025 TBD 2:00pm - 3:00pm ET

Designed for clean energy developers and manufacturers

Our office hours are designed for clean energy developers and manufacturers who have transferred, or are planning to transfer, IRA tax credits over the next 12 months. Developers need not have projects in Reunion's marketplace to participate.

Co-hosted by Reunion's founders

Reunion's founders, Billy Lee and Andy Moon, will co-host the hour-long sessions.

Billy and Andy pioneered solar financing structures with tax equity and private equity investors, leading some of the first solar transactions with institutions such as US Bank, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Key Bank, PNC, Nord/LB, D.E. Shaw, and First Reserve.

Questions welcome!

We want our office hours to be interactive, so please bring any questions you have, whether related to current market conditions, pricing, or commercial terms.

You're welcome to ask questions beforehand.

Latest News

Coverage of the latest market news and trends.

Reunion Accelerates Investment Into Clean Energy

Reunion’s team has been at the forefront of clean energy financing for the last twenty years. We help CFOs and corporate tax teams purchase clean energy tax credits through a detailed and comprehensive transaction process.

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