《美国清洁能源法》如何改善税收抵免

注意：本文于2021年6月更新，以反映对《美国清洁能源法》的变化。

在下面拜登政府的基础设施计划, tax credits for clean energy and technologies are expected to play an important role in achieving a到2030年，温室气体排放减少了50％。

The美国清洁能源法案，由参议员罗恩·怀登（Ron Wyden）（D-OR）于2021年4月提出，采取了至关重要的步骤来简化税法并使清洁能源税收抵免更加有效，更有效。该法案建议用三类技术中立的税收抵免代替40多种现有的清洁能源税收抵免，以激励清洁电力，清洁运输以及节能的房屋和商业建筑。

What’s wrong with the existing clean energy tax credits?

正如拟议的新立法所指出的那样，现有的清洁能源税收抵免是过时且间歇性的激励措施的拼凑而成，这些奖励不允许公司和开发人员足够的时间计划和开发大型项目。计划和获得大型能源项目的许可可能需要很多年，但是税收抵免通常仅延长一年的间隔，并且通常会追溯延长。

2020年12月，Congress passed temporary extensions对于许多现有的清洁能源税收抵免。但是，这些扩展将在未来几年内到期。从历史上看，类似的短期扩展已导致boom and bust cyclesof clean energy technologies, and this sputtering progress will not get the United States to 50% emission reductions by 2030.

Existing tax credits are also inaccessible to many Americans who need them. For instance, theelectric vehicle (EV) tax credit是不可退还的，如果纳税人不欠联邦税，则可以防止纳税人完全索取信贷。此外，此税收抵免在销售点不可用；纳税人必须等到提交税后才能获得信用。每个制造商都可以从特斯拉和通用汽车等行业领导者那里获得电动汽车生产，这也有一个可以从每个制造商那里获得税收抵免资格的车辆数量。

电流能源效率税收抵免for residential and commercial buildings are also non-refundable, leaving many building owners unable to access them. Furthermore, residential energy efficiency tax credits use 2006 building standards, which are severely outdated, and numerous one- or two-year extensions of the credit have led to continued开发人员之间的不确定性。这些问题扼杀了新技术的创新和部署。

最后，电力部门的主要清洁能源税收抵免 -investment tax credit(ITC) and生产税收抵免(PTC) — have mostly been claimed by solar and wind technologies, while other renewable energy generation and storage technologies, such as geothermal, storage and green hydrogen, are not eligible for these credits.

What does the Clean Energy for America Act do?

The Clean Energy for America Act addresses many shortcomings in the current tax credit system.

首先，它将信用额的可用性扩展了很多年，并提供了明确的阶段量标准。这意味着公司将能够创新和开发新技术，开发人员可以充满信心地计划长期项目，即税收抵免将在未来几年内获得。根据拟议的立法，在该行业排放量从2021年的水平上下降75％后，电力部门的投资和生产税收抵免将在四年内逐步淘汰。在运输部门，在该行业的排放量比2019年的水平下降75％之后，清洁燃料税抵免将逐步淘汰，当EV销售额达到年度新车辆销售的50％时，EV税收抵免将逐步淘汰。

This legislation also makes the EV tax credit refundable and removes the per-manufacturer cap. Commercial operators are able to claim a 30% tax credit on all cargo electric transportation options that are powered primarily by an electric drivetrain and only use renewable fuels for any fuel combustion processes. Clean fuel producers are eligible to receive a tax credit if the fuel life cycle emissions are 75 kgCO2e/MMBtu at most through 2027. In 2028 and 2029, the life cycle emissions on the fuel must be lower than 25 kgCO2e/MMBtu. For reference, current diesel and gasoline lifecycle emissions are approximately 100 kgCO2e/MMBtu.

In the power sector, tax credits are extended to all power generation technologies if the facility has zero greenhouse gas emissions. Improvements to the transmission grid that are vital to modernizing the sector, including energy storage and high voltage transmission, are also eligible for the new tax incentives. Homeowners installing zero emission energy generation technologies would be eligible for a 30% investment tax credit, as well.

The proposed legislation also updates building efficiency standards, using the latest nationally recognized standards for residential and commercial buildings. In the industrial sector, incentive levels for直接空气捕获（DAC）增加到$ 175/吨₂for geologic storage and $150/ton CO₂与其他用途相比当前水平约为$ 30/吨₂。This recognizes the importance that DAC will play in reaching net-zero emission targets and its ability to reduce emissions in hard-to-abate sectors.

该法案还要求项目开发人员支付满足或超过当地利率的工资，并利用注册的学徒计划来获得学分。此外，在低收入地区有资格获得清洁电力，能源存储和传输信用资格的投资将获得更高的激励措施。

最后，新法案消除了化石燃料勘探和钻井成本的优先税收补贴。这是从化石燃料转向清洁能量的关键步骤。

What changes have been made to the Clean Energy for America Act?

On May 26, 2021, the Senate Committee on Finance held a committee hearing to consider amendments to the Clean Energy for America Act. After voting on the proposed amendments, the committee voted to send the bill to the Senate floor. The changes made by the committee addressed some shortcomings in the current tax code and took on some of the recommendations outlined in a recentWRI paper.

对法案进行了重要的更改，以使更多的美国人获得税收抵免。这些变化还提供了使“能源社区”受益的激励措施，这些社区受到化石燃料发电厂污染和关闭的最大影响。在该法案的修订版中，清洁电力生产税收抵免和投资税收抵免可通过直接付款方式退还。新生技术，位于美国生产的钢，水泥和制造产品的能源社区和设施中的设施以及设施中的设施也增加了激励措施。在每种情况下，信用的价值增加了​​10％。

电动汽车信贷已从美国工会工人组装的车辆从7,500美元增加到最高12,500美元，并且已经包括了80,000美元的车辆价格上限，以便车辆有资格获得信贷。修订后的法案还包括清洁氢生产税收抵免和生产技术的氢投资税收抵免，该技术比天然气的氢生产要清洁50％，并且这些信用额的激励措施增加了设施，这些设施可提供更大的排放减少。

碳捕获和存储税抵免增加了直接捕获和储存（DACS），增强的石油回收将保留其对该信用的访问，直到2027年。这对于推进碳和捕获存储（CCS）和DACS基础设施和技术至关重要就像近期地质存储一样。

Wri发布了working paper分析并提供了修改当前清洁能源税收抵免的建议。以目前的形式，《美国清洁能源法》解决了其中许多建议，但仍可以对该提案做出重要的改进。

How can the Clean Energy for America Act be improved?

尽管《美国清洁能源》的最新修订大大升级了现有的清洁能源税收抵免，但仍有几种方法可以改善该法案。

首先，在销售点（最有效的退还形式）将EV税收抵免额以回扣的形式退还 - 将确保最大程度的可用性for individual and corporate taxpayers and would推动更大的采用零排放车辆。除了税收抵免外，还通过补贴融资为二手车市场提供支持，支持充电基础设施以及扩大电池保证，将使更多的美国人负担得起电动汽车。

Theexisting EV tax credit has been criticized对于主要帮助较高收入支架的纳税人，他们负担得起更昂贵的电动汽车。虽然修订后的账单上的车辆价格上限为80,000美元以获得EV信贷资格，但此高价上限仍远高于新车辆销售的中位数。较低的价格上限将促使汽车制造商生产更多负担得起的车辆，并将其集中在价格适中的车辆上。

Electric heat pumps- 在电力上运行并利用环境的热量加热房屋 - 是一个crucial technology对于脱碳建筑物，但前期成本高，包括电气升级成本，对房主构成了重大障碍，尤其是与天然气加热器相比。从拟议的800美元中，增加空气来源热泵的信用额将大大增加采用这项技术。随着热泵的涌入，随着制造商实现规模经济，热泵可能会变得更具成本效益，此时应淘汰税收抵免。

In the industrial sector,脱碳加热过程对于减少排放至关重要。因此，旨在使低温加热过程中的废物生物量和氢气使用的税收抵免将为公司开始采用这些技术提供激励措施。重新引入低碳制造业的投资税收抵免 - 例如，带回48C制造税收抵免，该信用额是2009年首次通过的，并为生产清洁技术提供了税收抵免，并将其扩展到包括低排放量水泥，钢和氨production – could help drive emission reductions in the industrial sector. Doing so would also spur domestic clean energy manufacturing across the country.

Finally, while the proposed phaseout criteria provide clear, long-term guidance for developers and innovators, the inclusion of additional criteria could避免锁定次优技术以及不必要且效率低下的税收支出。税收抵免应被视为联邦脱碳工具箱中的一种工具，该工具可以弥合已建立的化石燃料技术和新兴清洁技术之间的成本差异，从而使后者能够在市场上立足。

To that end, tax credits should be paired with other policies to address the myriad of challenges facing the faster deployment of various low-carbon technologies. Phaseout criteria should contain provisions that reduce or eliminate tax credit incentives when more effective and efficient policies are implemented, such as sector- or economy-wide decarbonization policies like a clean energy standard or a carbon tax.

实现税收抵免的全部脱碳潜力

Advancing a portfolio of policies is critical if the United States is to achieve its decarbonization goals. Tax credits are a crucial policy tool and play an important role in incentivizing innovation and deployment of clean energy and low-carbon technologies. It is past time to reform the outdated tax code and provide durable, predictable, and effective federal support for low-carbon technologies. The Clean Energy for America Act is a much-needed step in this direction. It provides critical support for clean energy and technologies that are essential for U.S. climate goals and facilitates an equitable and clean energy future for all Americans.