SECTION 5. CONCEPT PAPERS

AND APPLICATIONS FOR DOE RECOMMENDATION AND § 48C CERTIFICATION

.01 In General . A taxpayer must submit for each project it sponsors (1) by April 9, 2013, a concept paper for DOE consideration and (2) if invited by DOE, by July 23, 2013, the § 48C applications. If an application for DOE recommendation does not (1) propose an eligible project or (2) include all of the information required by Appendix B to this notice, DOE may decline to consider the application. If DOE does not provide a recommendation for the application, the Service will not consider the application for § 48C certification.

.02 Information Required in the Con- cept Paper and Application for DOE Rec- ommendation . A concept paper and application for DOE recommendation must include the information requested in Appendix B to this notice. Upon review of the concept paper, DOE will notify those applicants whose projects will be considered for DOE recommendation, and will invite the applicants to submit an application for DOE recommendation. An applicant who is not invited will not be permitted to submit an application for DOE recommendation or an application for §48C certification.

.03 Information Required in the Appli- cation for § 48C Certification . By submitting an application through eXCHANGE, an applicant is submitting simultaneously an application for DOE recommendation and an application for § 48C certification. EXCHANGE will prompt an applicant to enter necessary information and will provide corresponding instructions regarding the requirements for the application for § 48C certification.

lion. Accordingly, the maximum amount of credits allocated per project will be $30 million.

(4) The DOE recommendations will include a ranking of projects in descending order (that is, first, second, third, etc.). The project receiving the highest ranking (that is, first) will be allocated the full amount of credit requested not to exceed $30 million before any credit is allocated to a lower-ranked project. The amount of credit allocated to a project reduces the amount of credit available to lower-ranked projects. The same process will apply to the second and lower-ranked projects until the amount available for allocation is exhausted. DOE will recommend and rank projects only to the extent necessary to exhaust the amount available for allocation.

(5) For the § 48C Phase II program, the application period for certification begins on February 7, 2013, and ends on July 23, 2013. All timely submitted applications will be evaluated and ranked on their merit regardless of when in the application period they are submitted.

(6) For the § 48C Phase II program, a concept paper for DOE consideration must be submitted by April 9, 2013. The § 48C applications must be submitted by July 23, 2013. If the § 48C applications are received on or before July 23, 2013, and otherwise meet the preliminary compliance review criteria, DOE will determine the merit of the project and (for projects determined to be meritorious) provide the DOE recommendation to the Service by October 11, 2013. See section 5.02 of this notice and Appendix B to this notice for the information required to be submitted to DOE in an application for DOE recommendation. Also, see Appendix B to this notice for a discussion relating to the process for applying for DOE recommendation and the instructions for filing concept papers and applications for DOE recommendation.

(7) Each applicant will receive an electronically generated confirmation of receipt upon submission of (a) the concept paper and (b) the § 48C applications. The timeliness of submission of the § 48C applications will be determined by the submittal date and time shown on the confirmation of receipt.

(8) For the § 48C Phase II program, the Service will accept or reject a taxpayer’s application for § 48C certification

by November 15, 2013, and it will notify the taxpayer, by letter, of its decision. If the application is accepted, the date of this letter will be treated as the acceptance date.

(9) If the taxpayer’s application for § 48C certification is accepted, the acceptance letter will state the amount of the credit allocated to the project. The qualifying advanced energy project credit with respect to any project for all taxable years may not exceed the amount of credit allocated to the project under section 4 of this notice. If a credit is allocated to a taxpayer’s project, the taxpayer will be required to execute an agreement in the form set forth in Appendix A to this notice. The taxpayer must execute and return the agreement to the Service by January 10, 2014, at the address listed in section 6.02 of this notice. The Service will execute and return the agreement to the taxpayer by March 14, 2014. The executed agreement applies only to the taxpayer that signed the agreement. The taxpayer must notify the Service within 90 days of the acquisition of the project by any other person (a successor in interest) or, if the taxpayer is a member of an affiliated group filing consolidated returns, a change in the common parent company of the affiliated group. A successor in interest that plans to claim the § 48C credit allocated to the project must request permission to execute a new agreement with the Service. If the request is granted, the new agreement must be executed no later than the due date (including extensions) of the successor in interest’s Federal income tax return for the taxable year in which the transfer occurs. If the successor in interest does not execute a new agreement, the following rules apply:

(a) in the case of an interest acquired before the time the qualifying advanced energy project is placed in service, any credit allocated to the project will be fully forfeited (and rules similar to the recapture rules of § 50(a) apply with respect to qualified progress expenditures); and

(b) in the case of an interest acquired after the qualifying advanced energy project is placed in service, the project ceases to be investment credit property (and rules similar to the recapture rules of § 50(a) will apply with respect to qualified progress expenditures).

.03 For qualifying advanced energy projects that re-equip or expand a manu

2013–10 I.R.B. 545 March 4, 2013

(1) the Service will give no further consideration to the project; and

(2) any acceptance provided by the Service and any allocation or certification based on that acceptance will be void.

.02 Recapture of the § 48C Phase II Credits . Section 48C Phase II credits are subject to the recapture rules of § 50. Section 50(a)(1) provides, generally, for recapture of the investment credit if, during any taxable year, investment tax credit property is disposed of or otherwise ceases to be investment credit property with respect to the taxpayer before the close of the recapture period. The recapture period under § 50(a) is the 5-year period beginning on the date the property is placed in service.

.03 Effect of an Acceptance, Alloca- tion, or Certification . An acceptance, allocation, or certification by the Service under this notice is not a determination that a project is eligible for the qualifying advanced energy project credit under § 48C or that any property that is part of the project is an eligible property under § 48C(c)(2). The Service may, upon examination (and after any appropriate consultation with DOE), determine that the project does not qualify for this credit or that the property is not an eligible property for purposes of this credit.

.04 No Right to a Conference or Appeal . A taxpayer does not have a right to a conference relating to any matters under this notice. Further, a taxpayer does not have a right to appeal the decisions made under this notice (including the acceptance or rejection of the application for § 48C certification, the amount of credit allocated to the project, or whether or not to certify the project) to any official of DOE or the Service.

.05 Submissions by U.S. Mail . For purposes of this notice, any information submitted to the Service pursuant to sections 4.02(9), 6.02, 7.01, or 8 of this notice that is submitted by U.S. mail will be treated as received by the Service on the date of the postmark and any information submitted by a private delivery service will be treated as received by the Service on the date recorded or the date marked in accordance with §7502.