ABSTRACT
The Internal Revenue Service issued guidance related to automatic changes in accounting methods for taxpayers taking a §179D deduction for Energy Efficient Commercial Building Property. However, while the accounting treatment of §179D may trigger a change in accounting method for some taxpayers, this is not uniform for all taxpayers. In this paper, we argue that with this guidance, the Treasury Department (and Congress, by initial approval of the tax law) has inadvertently broadened unequal tax treatment between different segments of qualified taxpayers attracted to this important energy efficient building incentive. Further, we suggest that the §179D deduction be modified to achieve taxpayer parity to further incentivize energy efficiency.
