President Obama’s fiscal year 2016 budget would make the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) permanent—the same tax benefit used by Solyndra to build solar panels. Washington Free Beacon,
“The Budget would make permanent—and pay for—important research and clean energy incentives that the Congress routinely extends on a year-to-year basis, including the Research and Experimentation Tax Credit, the Production Tax Credit, and the Investment Tax Credit,” the budget states. “It would also reform these incentives to make them simpler and more efficient, for example by … making the renewable energy Production Tax Credit refundable so innovative, growing firms can fully benefit.”
Before the now insolvent Solyndra received its $535 million loan guarantee from the 2009 stimulus law, the company secured a tax credit deal with the IRS to make consumers more likely to buy their solar panels.
“Though the ITC is normally a 10-30 percent tax credit, Solyndra, as you may remember, was able to exploit the program with a special deal for their customers raising the credit to $6,000 back on a $10,000 purchase,” wrote Doug Hochberg, press secretary for the American Action Forum.
“Even with the extra tax credit and $535 million in government loans, Solyndra was still unable stay afloat,” he said.
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