In a 2024 case, United States of America v. Oehler et al, the tax court denied the Energy Efficient Commercial Building Deduction under IRC §179D to a lighting contractor for work they performed upon public schools since it failed to meet the definition of a “designer”.

Background
The §179D Deduction is a federal tax incentive designed to promote taxpayers to construct energy efficient buildings as well as encourage building owners to make improvements to existing structures that reduce energy and power costs. At the time of the case, the §179D Deduction provided a maximum deduction of up to $1.80 per square foot of the building’s floor area and applies to interior lighting systems, heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water systems or building envelope. A provision under §179D provides that architects, engineers, contractors, environmental consultants or energy services providers may also be eligible for the incentive on public projects. Section 179D provides:

A designer is a person that creates the technical specifications for installation of energy efficient commercial building property (or partially qualifying commercial building property for which a deduction is allowed under § 179D). A designer may include, for example, an architect, engineer, contractor, environmental consultant or energy services provider who creates the technical specifications for a new building or an addition to an existing building that incorporates energy efficient commercial building property (or partially qualifying commercial building property for which a deduction is allowed under §179D). A person that merely installs, repairs, or maintains the property is not a designer.

Note: The maximum §179D Deduction amount and who can allocate the deduction to the designer has since been heavily changed since the time of this case.
» Updated summary of the revised §179D rules

The Case
In this case, the lighting contractor performed lighting retrofits for several public buildings and had the §179D deduction allocated to them, which they took by filing amended tax returns. The court focused on whether the lighting contractor qualified as a “designer” under §179D. The lighting contractor’s role was primarily installing lighting fixtures based on specifications created by architects and others, not creating technical specifications.

Many professional service providers lack the expertise to properly analyze the complex tax rules and engineering requirements for the §179D Deduction. For a tax incentive requiring both a thorough knowledge of the tax code and engineering principles, it is essential to hire a fully qualified and experienced team that includes CPAs, attorneys, and professional engineers. It is also essential to thoroughly vet your §179D service provider, and at a minimum, perform an internet search that can yield critical information.

ICS Tax, LLC (ICS) is a consulting firm providing innovative tax planning strategies. ICS collaborates with taxpayers and their tax professionals to identify credits and incentives that reduce tax liabilities and increase profitability. ICS provides nationwide service through its offices throughout the country.