[State-fac-mgrs] FW: L4GG Updates on Direct Pay / Direct Pay conference

Mon Oct 21 14:32:34 PDT 2024

All,

For agencies that own buildings/fleet, please see information below about the status of the federal government's "Direct Pay" program. DAS has been looking into a coordinated enterprise-level response, but in the meantime, agencies are encouraged to stay on top of this program that can help offset costs associated with clean energy and vehicle electrification projects. There is also a day-long conference in Utah next month.

Happy to answer any questions as I can.

Thanks,

Dave

[cid:image003.png at 01DB23AE.72716F80]

Dave Wortman, LEED-AP BD+C, ISSP-SA
Statewide Sustainability Officer
DAS Office of Sustainability<https://www.oregon.gov/das/pages/office-of-sustainability.aspx>
(971) 304-8733
Pronouns: he/him/his

Data Classification: Level 1 - Published

From: RYAN Shannon * DAS <Shannon.RYAN at das.oregon.gov>
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2024 11:44 AM
To: WORTMAN David * DAS <David.WORTMAN at das.oregon.gov>; MILLER Jeremy W * DAS <Jeremy.W.MILLER at das.oregon.gov>
Cc: SINGER Khela * DAS <Khela.Singer at das.oregon.gov>; CHRISTENSEN Daniel * DAS <Daniel.CHRISTENSEN at das.oregon.gov>; POWER Karin * GOV <Karin.Power at oregon.gov>
Subject: RE: L4GG Updates on Direct Pay / Direct Pay conference / Comments on Chaining

Dave,

Will you share this with your ODOT and Parks as well?  CFO is not able to take point on this effort, so we'll be discussing internally how to resource this.  I also want to make sure we're including other agencies that may benefit from this program in our collective thinking.

Thank you.

[cid:image002.jpg at 01DB23AE.72716F80]
Shannon Ryan
Enterprise Asset Management Division Administrator
Department of Administrative Services<https://www.oregon.gov/das/pages/index.aspx>
503-428-3362
(she/her/hers)

For scheduling contact amy.krueger at das.oregon.gov<mailto:amy.krueger at das.oregon.gov>

From: WORTMAN David * DAS <David.WORTMAN at das.oregon.gov>
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2024 11:25 AM
To: MILLER Jeremy W * DAS <Jeremy.W.MILLER at das.oregon.gov>; RYAN Shannon * DAS <Shannon.RYAN at das.oregon.gov>
Cc: SINGER Khela * DAS <Khela.Singer at das.oregon.gov>; CHRISTENSEN Daniel * DAS <Daniel.CHRISTENSEN at das.oregon.gov>; POWER Karin * GOV <Karin.Power at oregon.gov>
Subject: FW: L4GG Updates on Direct Pay / Direct Pay conference / Comments on Chaining

It may be worth sending someone to this conference (either from CFO or EAM) for the day. There is a session about grant opportunities that can be paired with Direct Pay that looks interesting.

Copying Governor's office too in the event that someone may already be going.

Direct Pay: Clean Energy Incentives for Tax-Exempt Entities conference<https://infocastinc.com/event/direct-pay/> in Salt Lake City, UT on November 19, 2024. Follow the link for the agenda and registration information. This is a great opportunity for state employees implementing Direct Pay to take a deep dive on everything as related to process, risk, financing options, and partnerships. Our very own legal consultant, Jaron Goddard, will be attending and on some panels.

[cid:image003.png at 01DB23AE.72716F80]

Dave Wortman, LEED-AP BD+C, ISSP-SA
Statewide Sustainability Officer
DAS Office of Sustainability<https://www.oregon.gov/das/pages/office-of-sustainability.aspx>
(971) 304-8733
Pronouns: he/him/his

Data Classification: Level 1 - Published

From: Marwa Kamel <MKamel at usclimatealliance.org<mailto:MKamel at usclimatealliance.org>>
Sent: Monday, October 21, 2024 8:41 AM
Subject: L4GG Updates on Direct Pay / Direct Pay conference / Comments on Chaining

Happy Monday, Direct Pay Implementers,

  1.  Please note below guidance from our L4GG partners on Direct Pay, including:

     *   Expanded paper filing opportunity and automatic extension
     *   New e-filing option with Giraffe Financial
     *   Potential filing extension for disaster areas
     *   Proposed EV Infrastructure guidance

  1.  We'd like to flag an external Direct Pay: Clean Energy Incentives for Tax-Exempt Entities conference<https://infocastinc.com/event/direct-pay/> in Salt Lake City, UT on November 19, 2024. Follow the link for the agenda and registration information. This is a great opportunity for state employees implementing Direct Pay to take a deep dive on everything as related to process, risk, financing options, and partnerships. Our very own legal consultant, Jaron Goddard, will be attending and on some panels.
  2.  Comments on Chaining: We are closely monitoring and evaluating the benefit of states submitting comments to the IRS on chaining by December 1, 2024. We have previously facilitated a multi-state letter that included comments in favor of chaining within a limited scope. Here are white papers currently informing our community of practice: one by the Nicholas Institute at Duke<https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/publications/unlocking-clean-energy-projects-using-tax-chaining-primer> and another by the Center of Public Enterprise<https://publicenterprise.org/chaining-explainer/>. Please let me know if you're interested to learn more about this. Helpful information from states would include any evidence that is in favor of chaining or against it, including any measures that states or other government entities have in place for fraud prevention in the case of partnership and chaining.

Many thanks and hope you have a great week!

Best,

Marwa

________________________________
From: Jillian Blanchard (L4GG) <cleanenergy at lawyersforgoodgovernment.org<mailto:cleanenergy at lawyersforgoodgovernment.org>>
Sent: Friday, October 18, 2024 2:19 PM
To: Alli Gold Roberts <agoldroberts at usclimatealliance.org<mailto:agoldroberts at usclimatealliance.org>>
Subject: Important Updates on Direct Pay - Nov 15 Deadline Approaching

[Logo]

Dear Alli,

As the November 15 filing deadline for Direct Pay approaches, we at Lawyers for Good Government ("L4GG") want to update you on some important developments in the world of Direct Pay (ie, Elective Pay).

Updated Treasury Guidance:

Expanded Paper Filing Eligibility and Automatic Extension:

On Friday, October 11th, 2024, Treasury released Revenue Procedure 2024-39<https://lawyersforgoodgovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ee69fa2847731ffbb3f047167&id=e187083f4a&e=e57dc714f7> which grants direct pay eligible entities the same automatic six-month extension that was granted to municipalities and states. This automatic extension means that applicable entities that file on a calendar year basis have until November 15th to file their direct pay returns for projects placed in service during 2023. It also means that all entities with a tax year that ends between December 31, 2023 and November 30, 2024 have an additional six month extension after their original filing deadline (i.e. returns will be considered timely if filed within 10.5 months after the entity's tax year ends). Additionally, Rev. Proc. 2024-39 temporarily waives the electronic filing requirement allowing non-governmental applicable entities (like nonprofits and religious institutions) to use paper returns for the returns to be filed on November 15th.

While Rev. Proc. 2024-39 provides that filings submitted within the 10.5 month timely-file window should not be rejected outright for failure to file an extension request, the IRS still recommends that, when possible, non-governmental applicable entities do file a Form 8868 to request a six-month extension. Such filings help streamline the internal IRS process and guard against erroneous rejections for late filing as Rev. Proc. 2024-39 is circulated internally. The practical effect of this regulation will be to grant many entities - in particular nonprofits and religious institutions - an additional 6 months to file even if they did not file the necessary Form 8868 to request an automatic 6-month extension. For more information about paper filing, see L4GG's annotated tax forms<https://lawyersforgoodgovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ee69fa2847731ffbb3f047167&id=2bd1ac8a58&e=e57dc714f7>.

New E-Filing Option:

Many entities looking to file for direct pay need to e-file their tax forms.  Indeed, up until the release of Rev. Proc. 2024-39, nonprofits and other 501(c)(3) entities were required to e-file, which can be a confusing, complex, and expensive process.  L4GG is excited to announce<https://lawyersforgoodgovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ee69fa2847731ffbb3f047167&id=7d9bbfcfd1&e=e57dc714f7> that we have been working with Giraffe Financial to offer e-filing at a significant discount for those entities who have used L4GG's resources to complete their own tax forms and need to file by November 15, 2024.  This will help to ensure that smaller, under-resourced entities will be able to e-file for their direct payments without having to secure their own EFIN or pay for a costly tax software subscription. Giraffe, in cooperation with L4GG, is able to step in and provide these services at low cost to protect entities from under-equipped, under-informed, over-priced, or even outright predatory private filing services.

Potential Filing Extension for Disaster Areas:

The IRS and Treasury have allowed hardship extensions to filing deadlines for areas affected by Tropical Storm/Post Tropical Cyclone/Hurricane Helene and now Milton. L4GG is working on a high-level summary of extensions and areas affected, but in the interim, additional information regarding disaster related filing extensions can be found on the IRS web page for Tax Relief in Disaster Situations<https://lawyersforgoodgovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ee69fa2847731ffbb3f047167&id=a8b44c81ef&e=e57dc714f7>. We encourage entities affected by natural disasters to consult this page for the most up-to-date information regarding extended filing deadlines due to natural disasters.

Proposed EV Infrastructure Guidance:

The Treasury has released proposed regulations for the 30C Credit (EV Infrastructure Charging).  The credit allows eligible entities to receive up to 30% of the cost of a "single item" of electric vehicle charging property, up to a maximum credit of $100,000 for each single item.  The proposed regulations would define a "single item" of charging property in such a way that a charger capable of simultaneously charging two vehicles would be counted as two items of charging property, effectively making the maximum credit cap $100,000 per charging port rather than per charging station, thereby significantly expanding the potential return on investment under this credit.  Additionally, the proposed regulations would allow the cost of certain "associated property" to be included in the cost of a charger when determining the available credit amount.  Here's a link to the proposed regulations<https://lawyersforgoodgovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ee69fa2847731ffbb3f047167&id=0dfb926c4e&e=e57dc714f7>.

Note that this update focuses on updates that are relevant to entities seeking to file by the November 15th deadline, and therefore does not address the recent Low Income Community Bonus Credit guidance that has been issued relating to projects that will begin construction in 2025 and later.

For more resources, consult either our IRA website<https://lawyersforgoodgovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ee69fa2847731ffbb3f047167&id=9076c40b39&e=e57dc714f7> or use the Clean Energy Tax Navigator<https://lawyersforgoodgovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ee69fa2847731ffbb3f047167&id=6cf4333786&e=e57dc714f7>.  For specific follow up questions, please consult L4GG's FAQs<https://lawyersforgoodgovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ee69fa2847731ffbb3f047167&id=201a00f2f1&e=e57dc714f7> or ask a question<https://lawyersforgoodgovernment.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=ee69fa2847731ffbb3f047167&id=7cb0db698c&e=e57dc714f7> to one of our experts!

In solidarity,

Jillian Blanchard

Director of Climate Change & Environmental Justice (CCEJ)

NOTE: The information in this update is provided for general education and knowledge. It is not intended to be, and should not be, used as the sole source of information when analyzing and resolving a project's eligibility for Elective Pay under Section 6417 of the Internal Revenue Code, and it should not be substituted for legal advice, which relies on a specific factual analysis. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. If you have specific questions related to your particular project, we urge you to consult L4GG or other competent legal counsel.
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