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The United States Treasury Department is proposing tax guidance aimed at expanding access to $30 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), as well as clarifying decades-long uncertainty over the tax status of corporations fully owned by one or more Tribal nations. The draft rule confirms that these businesses hold the same tax status as the Tribes that own them, making them eligible to take advantage of IRA benefits to build energy projects.
According to a new study in Nature Energy, reservation lands are significantly less likely to host wind and solar farms than adjacent lands despite having abundant clean energy resources. Dominic Parker, a professor of applied economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who co-authored the study said, “Regulatory complexity and uncertainty are barriers that help explain the disparity in energy development on versus off reservations. Native Americans are land rich and they have windy and sunny land, but these IRA subsidies and tax credits have not benefited them thus far.”
“For far too long, tax uncertainty has held back Tribes’ economic opportunity,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo on a call with reporters Monday. Mark Macarro, president of the National Congress of American Indians applauded the guidance, saying, “These proposed new rules use Tribal sovereignty as a foundation and put a premium on Tribal self-determination.” He went further to say, “For us in Tribal leadership across the country, it sometimes feels like nobody is listening, but this is a product of consultation. The treasurer and the secretary listened.”
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