New York changes

Our customers are waiting for the ruling by the judge. You could file federal, but postpone NYS. Not sure if you can defer it.
The legislature did separate it, but Cuomo vetoed it because it was not in the 2015 budget.

 

I am guessing you could defer it since you could always file amended returns up to three years. You could wait and see what the court ruling will be, if it is favorable, then the next year go ahead and have your tax "person" amend this year's tax return to include the solar incentive.

I am currently one of those waiting to hear on the court ruling. I am at the point where I am asking for a conciliation hearing/meeting, but have yet to be scheduled. I am just buying time to just find out what the judge's ruling will be. If it is favorable, it will at least give me something to cite when I go in for the meeting.

 

This is misleading. A staff member from Sen. Ortt's office (main sponsor of the legislation) told me that when they first looked at the statute, they thought GSHP systems should qualify. Legal Counsel from DTF informed them DTF's interpretation was that the statute did not include GSHP systems for the tax credit. So then Sen. Ortt introduced the new legislation. As we know, it was vetoed in November, and has been reintroduced with this year's budget bill. It is a self-fulling prophecy for DTF to claim the new proposed legislation proves the current solar tax credit does not apply to GSHP systems. I agree with Doc that a simple "plain language" argument should apply here - as he explains above. We are still waiting for our pre-hearing conference with the Board of Tax Appeals.

 

The new statue was introduced to separate the geo tax credit out from the solar, since a homeowner might put both systems in (solar PV and HSHP). They both use solar radiation as a source, but now both systems compete for the same tax credit, thus the new tax bill. It has nothing to do with the statue in effect in the last years.

The DTF has now admitted that GSHPs use solar radiation, which is the only requirement in the statue, since the evidence for that is overwhelming. They now argue legislative intend, which is kind of silly, since the tax law was amended in 2005 with the intend to broaden it beyond solar PV, to also "provide solar thermal in form of heat, DHW and and cooling".

The judge has until the end of March to rule, and there are now 2 more trials which have occurred, with 2 different judges, but the ruling for theses is out until summer.

 

Thank you for sharing the information.

 

Well I unfortunately received a letter from NYS Tax department yesterday asking for copies of documents supporting the reason I took the solar credit. Since I'm just starting off with this, I thought I'd seek advice from anyone willing to give it. How would you proceed?

 

As I said above, I am currently faced wth the samething only I am about 8 months ahead of you. You will have to reply within a certain amount of time with supporting documents as you said they asked for. Complete the form they sent you and provide them proof of your install (invoice for equipment and the work done) along with proof of the energy star rating on your water furnace. They will deny it and then you have to provide them with a written letter attempting to prove to them why your system qualifies. I sent that certified mail. They will deny that then you ask for a conciliation hearing which is where I am at currently. I should have my hearing sometime in May. hopefully by then the first decision will be in and we can cite the results if it is favorable to our position.

 

Thanks Glock. Out of curiosity, were you encouraged to take the credit by your installer like I was?

 

Yes.

 

Did the NY auditor come after you yet ?

 

Yes. I kind of explained my situation a couples posts before.

 

I am now faced with a decision on weather to take the NYS tax credit or not for my June 2015 install. As of this point, I will not take the credit. I don't feel it's worth being audited, and run down the long road, as Cuomo outright vetoed it. I feel it's a losing battle, that will result in interest and penalties.

Any thoughts ?

 

Good course of action. If you discover that we win with the State and we can claim the tax credit, you can amend your tax return next year. You can amend up to three years back I believe.

 

The veto of the governor for the new geothermal tax credits has nothing to do wether ground source heat pumps systems qualify under the current solar tax credits. There are at least 3 cases pending in court, the first ruling is due any day now, so we should know soon.

 

The governor vetoed the proposed 2015 credits but it was my understanding a Geothermal Tax credit was proposed in the NYS 2016 budget. Does anyone have an update on the status of this? Was it successfully passed?

 

No, the governors office opposed the inclusion into the budget. Beats me what his strategy is. No one gets a clear answer from his staff why he is delaying the introduction in NYS when he supports other renewable technologies.
NYSERDA is setting itself up to roll out strong geothermal support. Could be that the governor wants this to come out of NYSERDA's budget instead of his. Or that, as an attorney, is already covered by the current solar tax credit, and that the courts will rule in favor. Nobody know his reasoning for sure.
I'll have some meetings next week where I hopefully will find out more.

 

Yes. Unfortunately, the items were not included in the budget. I confirmed this by contacting the representatives who had originally sponsored the legislation. They are re-introducing the legislation in the current session. You can follow the progress:

https://www.nysenate.gov/search/global

 

Sorry....hit post prematurely. The new bills are S6249 and S6250.

 

Yes, it is back in.
NYS is developing a very comprehensive energy policy with many stakeholders on the table, there are many good intentions, and maybe the governor is unsure what the right direction is. The point is that no one know why Mr Cuomo took an active stake against renewables and against geo in particular right now.

 

Was wondering about Carlos Li's case. I just got my denial letter from the conciliation process and they cited his case as the precedent for the denial. Carlos, if you are still on this forum could you let me know? Thanks.