TOPIC 'Renewable Energy' on Mar 27, 2011 (CEST)
Renewable Energy Grants Extended through 2011
December 17, 2010, President Obama signed into law widely publicized terms to encourage investors to renew their faith in renewable energy.
In hopes to boost the economy by creating new jobs and helping others to maintain their current position in the renewable energy industry, the new law includes a one-year extension for grants in lieu of tax credits and in some cases the law provides for a complete expensing of equipment placed in service between September 9, 2010 and the end of 2011.
In 2009, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act established the grant program. Those individuals and groups were to apply to the US Treasury Department for a reimbursement grant to help offset the cost of certain renewable energy projects. Under that act, those individuals or groups that received the grant could not claim either the production tax credit or the investment tax credit. This extension allows for an extension of research and development, job creation, and marketing of renewable energy fields; some through 2106.
For research and development equipment, the complete expensing comes in the form of a 100 percent depreciation of equipment that was put into use during 2009 – 2011. This is a great boon for the researchers as “equipment” is defined as most machinery, tangible personal property, and certain improvements that are made to some facilities. Property that was put into use prior to 2008 does not qualify for this depreciation.
The larger picture shows us that there is more to the Grant Act than just what is mentioned above that will prove to be an advantage to those in the renewable energy research, marketing, and investment fields. These benefits include a two-year extension of tax credits for biodiesel and renewable diesel; a one-year extension of tax credits for alcohol fuels such as ethanol; a two-year extension of the placed-in-service deadline for tax credit eligibility for new refined coal facilities other than refined coal facilities that produce steel industry fuel; and a two-year extension of the alternative fuel credit, alternative fuel mixture credit, and related payment provisions (excluding fuels derived from the production of paper and pulp).
Olaf_Kastein
