Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the legislation being considered today includes a historic expansion of the section 179D commercial buildings energy-efficiency tax deduction. The deduction, made permanent in 2020, is an important tool to tackle climate change by encouraging investments in energy-efficient buildings. I have been made aware of a discouraging trend among those who use section 179D that some entities attempt to receive payments in exchange for providing section 179D allocation letters to private sector building designers. As I have said before, entities seeking to avail themselves of the tax benefits of section 179D cannot seek, accept, or solicit payments from designers in exchange for providing section 179D allocation letters. The issuance of a section 179D allocation letter shall not be used as leverage to request a payment from a designer; allocation letters should be duly issued once the applicable design services have been performed. These actions run counter to the intent of section 179D(d)(4)'s express direction to allow the allocation of the section 179D deduction ``. . . to the person primarily responsible for designing the property in lieu of the owner of such property.'' Consistent with congressional intent, section 179D allocation letters are administrative in nature and serve to formalize the allocation of the tax deduction to the eligible designer.…”