On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law HR1865, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act (2020), which contained an extension to the Energy-Efficient Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction (179D).

The Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction expired at the end of 2016. On February 9, President Trump signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 into law, which contained a number of provisions including extending the CBTD to the end of 2017. This means lighting upgrade projects completed in 2017 may qualification for the deduction.

A bill introduced into the Senate, the Commercial Buildings Modernization Act (S.3591), seeks to extend the Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction (179D) created by the Energy Policy Act to the end of 2016, make it easier for taxpayers to claim the deductions, and offer higher maximum deduction levels, as the current tax deduction is set to [...]

  The IRA provides $400 Billion in federal funding for clean energy carbon reduction to address climate change. The IIJA provides $550 Billion in federal funding, over the next 5 years, for infrastructure, including EV charging infrastructure, as well as numerous projects that often include lighting, such as bridges, tunnels, highways, railway improvements, and more. [...]

Among its many provisions, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 revamped the venerable Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction (CBTD), which incentivizes building owners to invest in energy-efficient interior lighting, HVAC/hot water systems, and/or building envelope.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 was signed into law on August 16, 2022. Among the provisions included in this bill is the expansion of the Section 179D tax deduction for building energy efficiency. Thousands of commercial building owners have utilized the 179D tax deduction since its inception in 2005, and this expansion potentially allows for many more to not only utilize the deduction but also claim larger amounts than previously available.

Last week, President Biden signed the $750 Billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The new law addresses inflation, climate, energy, prescription drug policy, and corporate tax changes. Roughly $370 Billion are focused on combatting climate change, including energy generation and transmission, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, and environmental justice. 

With everything going on with the pandemic in late 2020 and early 2021, few in the lighting industry noticed a major change to the Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Tax Deduction, aka Section 179D.

Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in Congress that would make permanent a key energy efficiency tax incentive for owners and designers of energy efficient buildings while expanding its benefits to designers of hospitals, schools, tribal community facilities and other non-profits. H.R. 3507, introduced by Rep. Dave Reichert (R-WA) and co-sponsored by Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY), [...]