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Justin Coutts

Justin Coutts is an associate in the firm’s San Francisco office and a member of the Tax Practice Group.

His practice focuses on representing clients in tax controversy matters at both the state and federal levels. Justin has experience representing clients in state tax and IRS examinations, before the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, and in litigation. He also advises clients on transfer pricing matters, including helping clients navigate the Advance Pricing Agreement (APA) process and address other transfer pricing related planning and compliance issues.

On May 29, 2024, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the IRS released proposed rules for the section 45Y clean electricity production tax credit (“Section 45Y Credit”) and the section 48E clean electricity investment tax credit (“Section 48E Credit”).  These credits are informally referred to as tech-neutral credits because they do not specify particular technologies eligible for credits, unlike the existing production and investment tax credits.  Below we summarize certain important provisions in these proposed rules and some of their implications for project finance for constructing facilities with net-zero greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions, such as a need for emissions accounting and monitoring. Comments are due on August 2, 2024, and a public hearing is scheduled to be held on August 12 and 13.

Continue Reading When Is the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Rate Not Greater Than Zero?  Proposed Regulations on the Tech-Neutral Credits Provide Clarification

An additional piece of the section 30D puzzle arrived last Friday when the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and Department of Energy (DOE) released final rules (Treasury Rule and DOE Rule).  Largely tracking the proposed regulations, which we described in our prior blog posts (here and here), but with notable changes, these rules provide further clarity to the electric vehicle sector, essential to foster the widespread EV adoption in the United States.

Continue Reading Further Clarity to the Electric Vehicle Industry and Consumers Is Here, But It Is Not Done