Specialty Tax Credits & Incentives

Maximizing the value of your business means taking advantage of every financial opportunity available to you, including state and federal tax incentives you may have never heard of. Winthrop & Weinstine’s Specialty Tax Credit and Incentives group represents a wide variety of clients through creative tax strategies and capitalizing on tax credits available to your business. Our firm has represented clients of all sizes in the manufacturing, product design, transportation, construction, financial, real estate, and software industries, among others. Our experienced team of business lawyers, CPAs, and engineers works closely with your team every step of the way to create the most value for your business.

Our Approach

Your business might be missing out on lucrative tax benefits for steps you are already taking– our multidisciplinary team works with your business to identify opportunities for tax incentives, dive in to the details to compute the value that your business qualifies for, and guide you through the complex process of filing for these incentives. In some cases, the benefits awarded are disputed by the IRS or challenged in state or federal court. For this reason, our team also includes tax-focused litigators who are involved from the outset of each project for our clients, which allows them not only to advise on preventing compliance issues, but also makes them well-versed in the details of your project and business, should a challenge arise.

Research & Development Tax Credits

One under-utilized tax credit available to businesses is the Research & Development tax credit, or R&D tax credit. The R&D tax credit is an incentive for businesses that invest time
and money into the development or improvement of processes or products. If your business is involved in a project that is technical in nature, involves technical uncertainty and a Maximizing the value of your business means taking advantage of every financial opportunity available to you, including state and federal tax incentives you may have never heard of. Winthrop & Weinstine’s Specialty Tax Credit and Incentives group represents a wide variety of clients through creative tax strategies and capitalizing on tax credits available to your business. Our firm has represented clients of all sizes in the manufacturing, product design, transportation, construction, financial, real estate, and software industries, among others. Our experienced team of business lawyers, CPAs, and engineers works closely with your team every step of the way to create the most value for your business.

Small Business Innovation Research Grants

Our team also works with clients in connection with applications for Small Business Innovation Research (“SBIR”) grants. This program funds a diverse portfolio of startups and small businesses across technology areas, with the goal of stimulating development of technological advances in the United States. With rigorous processes and strict application deadlines, our team works closely with entrepreneurs to prepare convincing applications for grant funding on the required timeline.

Advanced Energy Project Credit and Other Inflation Reduction Act Credits

The Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit (48C) program was established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and expanded with a $10 billion investment under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The Advanced Energy Project Credit provides a tax credit for investments in advanced energy projects, and is administered jointly between the IRS and the Department of Energy. Applications for this credit require tax and environmental analysis, along with extensive legal and regulatory analysis. We regularly assist clients with applications for these credits, and have handled applications with an aggregate of more than $1 billion in qualified investments. In addition, we have experience assisting clients with multiple IRA and clean energy incentives, including incentives related to EV charging stations (30C), solar technology manufacturing (45X), carbon sequestration (45Q), and energy-efficient upgrades to commercial buildings (179D).

Clients Include

Agriculture
Construction
Family Wealth Offices
Financial Services
Food and Beverage
Investors
Manufacturing
Real Estate
Technology/Software Development
Transportation

Focus

Negotiated state direct and indirect tax and economic incentives
Tax and economic incentives for business relocations, expansions, job growth
Job growth and economic incentives
IRA and BIL energy credits and loans applications
Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) Loan Program
DOE Title 17 Federal Loan Guarantee for Renewable Energy Projects and Energy Efficient Projects
Work opportunity tax credits ("WOTC")
Research & Development tax credits (R&D)
Employee retention credit
Energy and sustainability incentives
Incentives for corporate expansions
Accelerated cost recovery strategies
Opportunity Zones
New Markets Tax Credits
Historic Tax Credits
Energy Tax Credits
Property Tax Abatements
Other State and Local Economic Programs

Notable Experience

Research and Development Credit

Assisted new OEM with site selection for manufacturing in the U.S. as well as development of new R&D center in Michigan and a sales HQ in California. This resulted in a net cash state benefits exceeding $60M.
Assisted a public vehicle manufacturer, headquartered in Wisconsin, in increasing U.S. R&D Tax Credit by 33% for 2021 and permanent net cash benefit of $11.5M.
Successfully secured $5.2M in annual R&D Tax Credit for multi-billion dollar global industrial packaging manufacturer, increasing credit value by 25% and directly contributing to a reduction in effective tax rate of 1.2% with a $0.7 impact to earnings per share.
Successfully secured $1M in annual R&D Tax Credit for the nation’s largest manufactured home builder, increasing credit value by 300%.

DOE ATVM Credit

Secured $450M DOE ATVM Loan Program pre-application approval for new OEM and manufacturing facility in Illinois.
Successfully secured $175M DOE ATVM loan through pre-application approval for Tier I Component Supplier to domestic OEM.
DOE ATVM loan application in process with manufacturer to support battery supply chain, to expand and develop new manufacturing facility with an anticipated loan value of more than $150M.

Advanced Energy Project Credit (Section 48C(e) Credit)

Assisted Tier 1 Global Automotive metal stamping Company in seeking $800M in eligibility for the 48C(e) Credit to be used toward the planned purchase and installation and labor costs related to the establishment and enhancement of manufacturing facilities.
Assisted OEM vehicle manufacturer in requesting $300M in eligible equipment and facility improvement costs. The net credit should result in nearly $90M of transferable federal tax credits, based on company investments in improvements to reduce greenhouse gases from its manufacturing facilities, and for innovations in Powertrain and EV manufacturing solutions.
Assisted a Tier 2 Automotive steel and aluminum forging component manufacturer in seeking nearly $35M in eligible investments for the 48C(e) Tax Credit. The Company will be onshoring manufacturing operations from China to a new U.S. manufacturing facility where both ICE and EV related component parts will be manufactured.
Assisted a Tier 1 Global Automotive hydrogen fuel cell manufacturer in drafting and securing a Community Benefits Agreement to support its application for 48C(e) Tax Credits related to its $300M investment in hydrogen fuel cells in the United States.
Assisted Global aggregate processing Company in seeking eligibility for $30M in new plant processing equipment and facility enhancements to support its greenhouse gas GHG reduction efforts. The eligibility of these 48C(e) facility investments result in a $9M federal tax credit that can either be used to offset the Company’s federal taxable income or be sold to a third party to monetize the tax credit.
Assisted a clean energy phosphate manufacturing start up in securing nearly $7M in USDA funding grants under the Inflation Reduction Act. These funds will support the development of a newly constructed plant that will produce clean energy phosphate for use in agriculture fertilizer to support the reduction of greenhouse gas impacts in agricultural fertilizers.

Other Credits and Incentives

Assisted new battery supplier for domestic OEMs in applying for $123M in EERE funding.
Successfully submitted (approval pending) for $4.9M DOE FPEP grant to build a U.S.-based phosphate manufacturing facility.
Secured more than $26M in ERC benefit to domestic developer and construction management enterprise for 2020 and 2021.
Secured $12M ERC benefit to national franchise company headquartered in California.