Elective Pay & IRA Tax Incentives Resources Page
Updated September 24, 2025
NEW RESOURCES & EVENTS:
JUMP TO: NEW RESOURCES ON ELECTIVE PAY after passage of H.R. 1: Elective Pay 101, Elective Pay Sprint Hub, Guidance Briefs on Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicles and Beginning of Construction (including new August guidance), plus our “Moving Forward After H.R. 1” webinar recording, slides, and Q&A.
JUMP TO: IRS Office Hours for Elective Pay - through January 2026.
E-FILING: L4GG is proud to partner with Giraffe Financial to provide a full suite of Elective Pay pre-filing registration and e-filing services. Get started with Giraffe Financial here.
The Clean Energy Tax Navigator is an easy to use framework and interactive form that walks through the process of determining eligibility for Direct Pay, offering technical assistance, and in certain cases, direct pro bono services. It is designed to be a free, public one-stop shop providing tailored Elective Pay information to users at all stages from project ideation through tax form filing.
The Project Finance Hub, by Atlas Public Policy and launched in concert with the Navigator, offers a database of funding opportunities for clean energy projects.
Recorded trainings and slides on how to use the Navigator and Project Finance Hub are available on our Trainings page.
The IRS Pre-Filing Registration Portal is OPEN!
Register to receive a unique ID for all of your eligible projects!
PRE-FILING REGISTRATION RESOURCES
IRS Office Hours for Elective Pay continue into 2026. Register here!
IRS Video Walk-Through of Pre-Filing Registration Portal (web.archive.org version of defunct irs.gov page)
Pre-Filing Registration Tool User Guide (with screenshots), IRS Publication 5884
IRS Energy Credits Online Permission Management User Guide (with screenshots), IRS Publication 5902
IRS Secure Messaging User Guide, IRS Publication 6025
Secure Messaging is recommended for questions on existing Pre-Filing Registrations as of Oct. 2024
Email for requesting technical assistance without a Pre-Filing Registration login: irs.elective.payment.or.transfer.of.credit@irs.gov
IRS recommends using Secure Messaging within the Pre-Filing Registration Portal (once you are logged in)
L4GG/WRI/GFOA/USDN Webinar: Demystifying the Elective Pay Process (video) - April 18, 2024
Slide deck (with hyperlinks to resources)
L4GG WORKSHEETS, FACT SHEETS, ANNOTATED FORMS, & WEBINARS
Worksheets & Maps for Identifying Eligible Projects:
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (non-urban and low income only)
EV Infrastructure - 30C Tax Credit Eligibility Locator Map from DOE
Annotated Tax Forms:
See our Annotated Tax Forms page for annotated forms from tax years 2023 and 2024, plus corresponding IRS forms and IRS instructions.
IRS also provides a video walkthrough and PDF summary of completing tax forms
Fact Sheets & Guidance Briefs:
Guidance Brief: Prohibited Foreign Entity Restrictions on Clean Energy Credits - Sept. 3, 2025
Guidance Brief: Beginning of Construction for the 48E & 45Y Tax Credits - August 20, 2025
Guidance Brief: Code Section 45W Credit for Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicles - July 24, 2025
UPDATED Alert: Updates to Certain Elective Pay Eligible Credits under HR1 - July 14, 2025
Alert: May 15 Filing Deadline and Extension Process - Sept. 23, 2025
Memo: Opportunities for State Agencies to Cut Costs with Federal Elective Pay Clean Energy Tax Credits - June 20, 2025
Best practices for states, produced in collaboration with the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) and State Support Center (SSC)
Elective Pay Blueprints - April 2025
Easily digestible best practice guidelines to organize your entity’s uptake of Elective Pay
Guidance Brief: 501(c)(3) Tax Exempt Status Protection - April 21, 2025
Guidance Brief: Elective Pay Refund Status - February 21, 2025
Guidance Brief: Executive Orders and Protecting Your Federal Funding - January 29, 2025
Guidance Brief: Low-Income Communities Bonus (LICB) 2025 - January 14, 2025
2025 Program Year applications open as of January 16, 2025 (9am ET)
Program capacity dashboard will be available after February 14, 2025
Guidance Brief: RFP Language for Prevailing Wage and Domestic Content
Guidance Brief: Prevailing Wage & Apprenticeship (PWA) Requirements
Guidance Brief: Restricted vs. Unrestricted Funds and the “No Excess Benefit” Rule
Guidance Brief: When is a Lease Actually Financing? (financed EV ownership & credit eligibility)
Guidance Brief: Identifying Filing Deadlines & Applicable Tax Year - updated June 2025
Webinars:
L4GG & partners Moving Forward with Elective Pay After H.R.1 - July 30, 2025
L4GG/WRI/GFOA Integrating Elective Pay Tax Credits into Government Procurement and RFPs - December 10, 2024
Slide deck (hosted by WRI)
L4GG’s accredited Continuing Legal Education (CLE): Maximizing Elective Pay Payments to Cities Under the Inflation Reduction Act
Free with the purchase code 2024L4GG
CPCC w/ L4GG: Cash for Communities (video) - May 9, 2024
L4GG/WRI/GFOA/USDN/SSDN: Slide decks for SSDN - May 1, 2024
L4GG/WRI/GFOA/USDN Demystifying the Elective Pay Process (video) - April 18, 2024
Slide deck (with hyperlinks to resources)
L4GG/CAP/NLC/BGA How Cities Can Take Advantage of Direct Pay (video) - Jan. 2024
Slide deck (with hyperlinks to resources)
L4GG’s Direct Pay Overview Webinar - August 2023
L4GG/Sabin Center Presentation to Local Governments
Stanford Law School Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy
HELPFUL PARTNER RESOURCES
C40 Cities & partners - Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Guidebook for Local Governments
Government Finance Officers Association - IRA Implementation Resources
Electrification Coalition - Elective Pay Resources
Congressional Progressive Caucus Center - Livable Futures and Elective Pay Resources
Center for Public Enterprise - Tax Credit “Chaining” Brief
Clean Energy States Alliance - Build America Buy America and Domestic Content: A Primer for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund Solar for All Program
State Support Center - Direct Pay & Project Finance Memo for States, April 3, 2024
WRI - Bonus Mapper
Wilson Sonsini - IRA Legal Resources
Wilson Sonsini - Analysis of New 48/ITC Proposed Regulations
Clean Energy Group - Direct Pay Guide for Non-Profits, ITC for Non-Profits, Applying for IRA Bonuses, & Bonus Fact Sheets
Sabin Center - Proposed Regulations for Direct Pay Under the Inflation Reduction Act - Guidelines for Cities
NYU School of Law - Making Cents of the IRA
Center for American Progress - Overview on Direct Pay
Clean Energy States Alliance - Low-Income Communities Bonus
BlueGreen Alliance - Domestic Content Guidance for Developers
APPLICABLE REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE FROM TREASURY & IRS
FINAL REGULATIONS ON DIRECT PAY - Published March 11, 2024
L4GG’s Summary of IRS Final Rules on Elective Pay - March 6, 2024
IRS Press Release on Final Regulations - March 5, 2024
IRS FAQ on Elective Pay - Updated March 5, 2024
Relevant Regulations and Guidance from IRS and Treasury
U.S. Dept. of Treasury press release and final rules on Section 48 (Investment Tax Credit) - December 4, 2024
IRS TEGE Guide on Completing Form 990-T for Elective Payment Election Only (video)
ARTICLES FROM L4GG LEGAL EXPERTS
Analysis of Final Rule on Transferability - Tax Law Center at NYU
Analysis of §48/ITC Proposed Regulations - Wilson Sonsini
Low-Income Communities Bonus - Linklaters
Domestic Content - Linklaters
Energy Communities Bonus - Linklaters
Paying for your Project - Financing ResourceS
Atlas Public Policy - Project Finance Hub
Milken Institute - Community Infrastructure Center
Center for Public Enterprise - Interactive Financial Modeling Tool
Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: Greenbanks, CDFIs, other Grant recipients under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (Solar for All Competition is currently open); 43 states have filed NOIs
U.S. Dept. of Energy - State Energy Financing Institutions (SEFI) Funding for State Programs
Wilson Sonsini - Clean Energy Federal Funding Database
Wilson Sonsini - Climate Funding White Paper
Found an error, broken link, or other tech issue? Let us know at CleanEnergy@L4GG.org — and thanks!