Oct. 20, 2014: GEO Working to Get Federal Incentives for Geothermal Heat Pumps Reinstated
Tax Benefits Are Extremely Significant for the Commercial Geothermal Heat Pump Market
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Geothermal Exchange Organization (GEO) announced that it is actively supporting “tax extenders bills” that are now under consideration by the U.S. House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate. The bills would reinstate and extend several tax incentives for geothermal heat pumps that expired last year.
According to GEO President Doug Dougherty, “Section 179 for expensing and bonus depreciation for ‘qualified property,’ which includes geothermal heat pump installations, both expired on Dec. 31, 2013. Both of these tax benefits are extremely significant for the commercial geothermal heat pump (GHP) market.” Under the lapsed expensing provision, he said, “a business could expense up to $500,000 the year the GHP was installed. Under the bonus depreciation provision, a business could deduct 50 percent of the cost of a GHP in the first year of installation.”