SECTION 2. BACKGROUND

.01 For purposes of the § 38 general business credit, § 46 provides that the amount of the investment credit for any taxable year is the sum of the credits listed in § 46. That list includes the § 48C credit, which was originally enacted by § 1302(b) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (2009 Act), Public Law 111-5, Division B, Title I, Subtitle D, 123 Stat. 115, 345 (February 17, 2009), to provide an allocated credit for qualified investments in qualifying advanced energy projects.

.02 In addition to certain amendments made by the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, Public Law 113-295, 128 Stat. 4010 (December 19, 2014), § 48C was amended most recently by § 13501 of Public Law 117-169, 136 Stat. 1818 (August 16, 2022), commonly known as the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). Section 13501(a) of the IRA added § 48C(e) to the Code to extend the § 48C credit and to provide an additional credit allocation of $10 billion. Section 13501(b) of the IRA modified the definition of a “qualifying advanced energy project” contained in § 48C(c)(1)(A). Section 13501(c) and (d) of the IRA made conforming amendments to § 48C(c)(2) (A) and (f). The amendments made by § 13501 of the IRA became effective on January 1, 2023. See § 13501(e) of the IRA.

.03 Notice 2023-18 established the § 48C(e) program and provided initial program guidance. Section 3 of Notice

1 Unless otherwise specified, all “section” or “§” references are to sections of the Code.

2 The term “§ 48C(e) Energy Communities Census Tracts” is defined in section 5.06 of Notice 2023-18.

June 20, 2023 924 Bulletin No. 2023–25

2023-18 provided definitions for purposes of the § 48C(e) program of the following terms: “qualifying advanced energy project,” “specified advanced energy property,” “eligible property,” “placed in service,” “industrial facility,” “manufacturing facility,” and “recycling facility.” Section 4 of Notice 2023-18 described how the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements that apply under § 48C(e)(5) and (6) impact the rate of § 48C credits allocated under the § 48C(e) program. Section 5 of Notice 2023-18 provided a general description of the § 48C(e) program and section 6 of Notice 2023-18 provided initial information regarding the procedures for concept papers and § 48C(e) applications.

.04 Section 5 of Notice 2023-18 states that the IRS will consider a project under the § 48C(e) program only if DOE provides a recommendation and ranking to the IRS. As stated in section 5 of Notice 2023-18, DOE will provide a recommendation only if it determines that the project has a reasonable expectation of commercial viability and merits a recommendation based on the criteria provided in additional § 48C(e) program guidance intended to be issued by May 31, 2023. This guidance comprises the additional § 48C(e) program guidance referred to in Notice 2023-18.