IRS Issues CCS Tax Plan With Split Decision On Key Reporting Issues

摘要

Posted May 29, 2020 The IRS has issued a long-awaited proposed rule outlining how carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects can claim crucial tax credits, rebuffing some industry demands to ease monitoring requirements for oil recovery projects while also rejecting several groups' calls for full transparency on reporting.In addition, the proposal lays out timeframes for the IRS to "recapture" credits if carbon dioxide leaks back to the atmosphere, provides additional guidance on which projects are eligible for the credits, and tees up issues for additional comment including lifecycle analysis requirements related to use of CO2. "The proposed regulations ... are an important step forward in providing investors in carbon capture projects with the certainty that is needed for the robust development of the carbon capture industry," says Steptoe & Johnson partner Hunter Johnston, also an adviser to the industry-environment Carbon Capture Coalition."This is the starting gun for a lot of projects," adds Clean Air Task Force (CATF) managing director Kurt Waltzer, though he says the transparency provisions in the rule need improvement.