Episode #30
179D Is Not Dead: Claim It on a Building You Have Owned for Years
The 179D deduction did not die on June 30, 2026. The energy efficient commercial building deduction closed to new projects that begin construction after that date, and that is the entire loss. Every commercial building already placed in service still qualifies, and so does every project that broke ground before July 1. If you own a warehouse, office, hotel, self storage facility, medical building, or an apartment building four stories or taller placed in service since 2006 and never claimed section 179D on it, you can catch the whole deduction up on your current return through Form 3115, change number 152, without amending a single old year. David Wiener, Mr. Cash Flow, walks both doors: the 179D tax deduction rates by year, from a flat $1.80 a square foot before 2023 to the 2026 scale of $0.59 to $1.19 base and $2.97 to $5.94 with prevailing wage, Form 7205 and the engineering certification behind it, the 179D allocation letter that hands the deduction to architects and engineers, and why 179D and cost segregation pull from two different piles on the same building. Built for three people. The owner or investor who never claimed 179D on a building or a renovation. The developer whose project was underway this spring and finishes years from now. And the architects and engineers who design for schools, cities, hospitals and universities, because your version runs on a three year clock, not a twenty year one.
