Reference

Transferable tax credits.

What each credit is, who earns it, whether it is subject to recapture, and what a buyer's counsel will ask for. Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code as amended through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025. This page is general information, not advice.

Federal

Credits transferable under §6418

An eligible taxpayer may elect to transfer all or a portion of an eligible credit to an unrelated taxpayer for cash. The election is made once per credit, per year, on a facility-by-facility or property-by-property basis, and must be made before the seller files its return for the year the credit was determined. The cash is excluded from the seller's income and is not deductible by the buyer. Transfers to specified foreign entities are prohibited. For investment credits, the transferee bears recapture.

§45X Advanced manufacturing production credit

Who earns it: Manufacturers of solar, wind, inverter and battery components and processors of critical minerals, on components produced in the United States and sold to unrelated parties.
Recapture: None.
Counsel will ask for: Component eligibility and credit computation by component; evidence of sale; registration; for 2026 and later vintages, foreign-entity-of-concern status and material-assistance cost ratios. Wind components lose eligibility after 2027; other components phase down from 2030.

§45Z Clean fuel production credit

Who earns it: Producers of transportation fuel (ethanol, biodiesel, renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel, renewable natural gas and others) at a registered facility, on fuel produced after 2024 and sold through 2029 in a qualified sale.
Recapture: None.
Counsel will ask for: Excise-tax registration; emissions rate under the applicable table or a provisional rate; qualified-sale support, including sales through unrelated resellers; North American feedstock for 2026 and later; prevailing wage and apprenticeship for the full rate.

§45U Zero-emission nuclear power production credit

Who earns it: Owners of nuclear facilities placed in service before August 16, 2022, on electricity sold to unrelated persons in tax years 2024 through 2032.
Recapture: None.
Counsel will ask for: Gross-receipts computation and the resulting phase-out; prevailing wage; the seller's balance sheet, since these credits transact on corporate indemnity rather than insurance.

§48 Energy investment credit

Who earns it: Owners of energy property, including solar, storage and geothermal, for property on which construction began before 2025.
Recapture: Five years from placed in service, 20 percent per year, borne by the transferee.
Counsel will ask for: Cost basis and cost segregation; beginning-of-construction and placed-in-service support; prevailing wage and apprenticeship; domestic content and energy community adders where claimed; recapture protections in the transfer agreement; insurance or a strong indemnity.

§48E Clean electricity investment credit

Who earns it: Owners of zero-emission generating and storage facilities on which construction began after 2024, subject to the accelerated termination for wind and solar and the prohibited-foreign-entity rules.
Recapture: Five years, borne by the transferee; an additional ten-year recapture applies to certain payments to prohibited foreign entities.
Counsel will ask for: Everything required for §48, plus material-assistance cost ratios and foreign-entity certifications; placed-in-service timing against the statutory deadlines.

§45 and §45Y Production credits for electricity

Who earns it: Owners of wind, solar and other qualifying facilities, on electricity produced and sold to unrelated persons over a ten-year period. §45 applies to facilities that began construction before 2025; §45Y after.
Recapture: None.
Counsel will ask for: Metered production; prevailing wage and apprenticeship; whether the transfer is a single vintage or a multi-year strip and how forward years are priced and trued up.

§45Q Carbon oxide sequestration credit

Who earns it: Owners of carbon capture equipment at an industrial or power facility, or direct air capture, on carbon oxide captured and disposed of, used, or utilized.
Recapture: Three years after the year of disposal, for carbon oxide that ceases to be sequestered.
Counsel will ask for: EPA greenhouse-gas reporting; monitoring, reporting and verification plan; storage-site documentation; prevailing wage and apprenticeship.

§45V Clean hydrogen production credit

Who earns it: Producers of qualified clean hydrogen at facilities that began construction before 2028, over a ten-year period.
Recapture: None.
Counsel will ask for: Lifecycle emissions rate and verification; energy attribute certificates where electricity is the input; prevailing wage and apprenticeship.

§48C Advanced energy project credit

Who earns it: Owners of manufacturing, recycling and industrial decarbonization projects that received a Department of Energy allocation.
Recapture: Five years, borne by the transferee.
Counsel will ask for: Allocation letter and certification; placed-in-service within the allocation deadline; cost basis; prevailing wage and apprenticeship.

§30C Alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit

Who earns it: Owners of charging and refueling property placed in service in eligible low-income or non-urban census tracts before July 2026.
Recapture: Three years, borne by the transferee.
Counsel will ask for: Census-tract eligibility by property; cost basis per item; prevailing wage and apprenticeship for the full rate.

State

State credits

A number of states allow certain credits to be sold outright or issue them as certificates that may be transferred: historic rehabilitation, film and entertainment production, brownfield remediation, low-income housing and others. Each program has its own transfer mechanics, registration requirements and, in some states, broker registration. Whether a particular state credit can be placed, and on what terms, is confirmed program by program before engagement.

Contact

Questions about a specific credit or a specific transaction: contact Bjorklund Consulting.