Building Compliance Frameworks to Unlock Energy Incentives
ScottMadden frequently assists organizations with federal funding strategic assessments. Contact us to learn how we can help support your various strategic assessment and planning goals.
Compliance Readiness
Guided the client through its first-ever federal tax filings, ensuring documentation, reporting, and submission processes aligned with IRS requirements for refundable energy tax credits
Prevailing Wage Oversight
Developed and tested cross-functional processes to comply with prevailing wage mandates, reducing risk of penalties and ensuring eligibility for full credit values
Governance and Controls
Implemented internal controls and compliance frameworks across finance, HR, and supply chain to strengthen audit readiness and sustain ongoing adherence to federal regulations
Challenge
Our client, a large, public joint operating agency, faced a complex compliance challenge responding to new federal tax credit provisions related to the Inflation Reduction Act and the One Big Beautiful Bill. As a historically tax-exempt entity with no prior experience filing federal tax returns, the organization had to navigate unfamiliar IRS requirements to access significant value through refundable energy tax credits, including 45U, 45Y, 48E,and 30C. To ensure compliance, ScottMadden was engaged to evaluate eligibility across the client’s nuclear, advanced nuclear, and other energy assets and to design internal processes to support accurate federal tax filings, documentation standards, prevailing wage requirements, and audit planning.
Process
- Researched and interpreted complex federal tax credit statutes and guidance to determine compliance requirements and assess credit eligibility and value across multiple asset classes
- Advised on a tax filing strategy and supported the transition from non-filer to tax refund recipient, ensuring tax compliance standards would be met going forward
- Developed cross-functional processes for prevailing wage compliance
- Simulated prevailing wage compliance process tasks to test operational performance and identify gaps
Result
- Identified and addressed key compliance gaps across finance, HR, and supply chain functions to ensure maximized value of energy tax credits
- Monitored key federal and industry regulations and legislative updates to ensure that policies and procedures remained aligned with the latest requirements
- Created and simulated end-to-end processes to meet prevailing wage requirements
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Let’s Work Together
We don’t solve problems with canned methodologies; we help you solve the right problem in the right way. Our experience ensures that the solution works for you.