Energy Tax Incentives and the Alternative Minimum Tax

Carlson, Curtis; Metcalf, Gilbert E.

Download This Paper

Open PDF in Browser

Add Paper to My Library

Energy Tax Incentives and the Alternative Minimum Tax

NBER Working Paper No. w14110

31 Pages Posted: 22 Jun 2008 Last revised: 23 Jul 2022

See all articles by Curtis Carlson

Curtis Carlson

U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis (OTA)

Gilbert E. Metcalf

Tufts University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: June 2008

Abstract

We take a first look at limitations on the use of energy-related tax credits contained in the General Business Credit (GBC) due to limitations within the regular corporate income tax as well as the AMT. Between 2000 and 2005, firms were unable to use all energy-related tax credits due to GBC limitations in the regular tax. The AMT has a smaller but still pronounced impact on the ability of firms to use these credits. Finally, we provide some illustrative calculations to demonstrate how the AMT can lead to very different levelized costs of producing electricity from a wind power project.

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Carlson, Curtis and Metcalf, Gilbert E., Energy Tax Incentives and the Alternative Minimum Tax (June 2008). NBER Working Paper No. w14110, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1149356