Cohousing-L Mailing List: DYI solution for tax credits?

[John Pustell (jpustell]

My church in Melrose Massachusetts arranged for an LLC funded by church members 
so that each member received the tax credit AND received the payments for the 
electricity (the church buys all that is generated).  At the end of 15 years 
the equipment will be fully paid for (the investors will have recouped their 
investment between the tax credits and the annual cash payments) and the LLC 
will "sell" the system to the church for $1.

They did hire a consultant to help set up the program and manage the money so 
they lost that "management fee", but this removed the hassle.

That said - 4 years in - the consultant went belly up and we learned they had 
NOT done some of the necessary reporting steps and applying for "SREC's" so 
money was left of the table and now a church member is running the LLC.  But 
otherwise it is working as designed.

John Pustell

-----Original Message-----
From: Cohousing-L [mailto:cohousing-l-bounces+jpustell=verizon.net [at] 
cohousing.org] On Behalf Of Bob Leigh
Sent: Sunday, August 14, 2022 7:41 AM
To: cohousing-l [at] cohousing.org
Subject: Re: [C-L]_ DYI solution for tax credits?

At Cornerstone Cohousing in 2015, we were able to pass through somr or all of 
the tax credits fromthe condo association to each homeowner, who then claimed 
ghe credit on their individual tax returns.  We agreed that as each household 
filed the return and perhPs received a refund, they would repay ghe amount of 
the credit to the association.

I could find more details if needed.  Nitr that the possibilities may have 
changed since 2015.

Bob Leigh
Cambridge MA

On Sun, Aug 14, 2022 at 3:53 AM Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L < cohousing-l 
[at] cohousing.org> wrote:

> I think the tax credits have to go to a non-profit organization, a 501c3.
> One that doesn t serve itself, but  exists for the good of others.
>
> Sharon.
>
> > On Aug 13, 2022, at 9:50 PM, David Mandel <dlmandel [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > We're looking at installing solar generation on some of our roofs, 
> > first
> on
> > two carports where EV chargers will live, then if possible on more 
> > sun-favorable roofs throughout the community, in a way that we could 
> > all share the cost and the benefit.
> > Federal tax credits are available for solar installation, and that 
> > works well enough for individual homeowners who have sufficient 
> > income to pay taxes. But as a homeowner association our income tax 
> > burden is
> negligible.
> > The typical solution for tax-exempt entities that want to install 
> > solar (say, on the roof of a church or a school) is to contract with
> specialized
> > investors who become the actual owners of the system, get the tax 
> > credits ... and sell the power to the nonprofit entity at a discount 
> > while retaining a tidy profit as long as the tax credits apply 
> > (typically five years, I'm told, maybe 10 under the new federal 
> > legislation that just passed).
> > So I'm wondering if there's a way to avoid using such a middle 
> > person and losing out on some of the tax advantages. For instance, 
> > what if some or
> all
> > of our residents form a partnership or LLC that would operate 
> > similarly
> but
> > pass on a much larger part of the profit to the community? Has 
> > anyone
> tried
> > or maybe succeeded with such a plan? Or even if not, do you have 
> > some financial expertise to opine on whether this would be viable?
> > Thanks,
> > David Mandel
> > Southside Park Cohousing in sunny Sacramento 
> > _________________________________________________________________
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