Federal tax credits and accelerated depreciation play an essential role in financing infrastructure projects, particularly renewable energy projects. What is less familiar to project participants is how to integrate tax equity investors interested in receiving those tax benefits with the other capital providers – including term and mezzanine lenders and sponsor equity providers.
Pierce Atwood’s tax attorneys have substantial experience integrating all elements of a project’s capital stack and assisting clients to structure their renewable energy projects, including wind, solar, and biomass projects, in the most tax-efficient manner possible. Often this involves the syndication or monetization of tax credits. We have expertise and experience with all tax aspects of energy projects, including tax equity financing utilizing investment tax credits, production tax credits, and new markets tax credits. We have assisted clients in implementing a variety of different structures to optimize the value of tax benefits, such as sale-leasebacks, partnership flips, and inverted lease structures, including back-levered loan structures. We also have substantial experience in structuring renewable energy projects to avoid or minimize property tax assessments, including obtaining tax abatements, minimizing the treatment of property as real estate fixtures and improvements, and negotiating tax-increment financing and payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements.
Our firm has significant experience with issues involving the valuation of generation and other infrastructure facilities, starting at the local level, through state boards and trial courts and all the way up to state supreme courts. Our property tax clients include power plant owners and developers, gas and electric utilities, interstate pipelines, federal Superfund sites, real estate developers, telecommunications assets and others.
Our tax practice is highly regarded for its in-depth knowledge and experience in structuring multi-national transactions and partnerships. Pierce Atwood is well-versed in managing the needs of different kinds of private fund investors, including taxable, tax-exempt (both pension and endowment), non-U.S. and sovereign entities. Our attorneys can creatively handle the complexities of UBTI, ECI, FIRPTA and other tax-intensive investments, whether the target is a commercial real estate developer in Boston, a renewable energy project portfolio in New York, or a family fund in London.
Our tax attorneys also provide state and local litigation, planning, transactional, regulatory and legislative services and support to project developers on all state and local tax issues and economic development incentives. Our work has included advising clients on the state and local tax aspects of the acquisition of power plants, as well as on the state and local tax and economic development aspects of wind power projects.
We pride ourselves on creating practical, tax-efficient structures to meet our client's needs. Our attorneys also represent both individuals and businesses in tax controversies and disputes before all levels of the IRS, the United States Tax Court, the Federal District Courts, and State courts and administrative agencies.