casino environment

During this period, casino owners built new facilities and expanded the size of existing ones. Construction of new US commercial casinos has been halted as a result of the recession, and casino operators are now focusing on reducing the cost of existing facilities.

Section 179(D) Tax Provisions

A growing number of casino operators are taking advantage of the EPAct IRC Section 179(D) Commercial Building Energy Efficiency Tax Clause, which has been extended through 2013. EPAct tax credits can be used for qualifying energy savings in lighting, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air). conditioning) and building envelopes. (The building envelope consists of the building’s foundation, walls, roof, windows, and doors, all of which control the flow of energy between the inside and outside of the building.)

Characteristics of casino properties

Commercial casinos often include hotel resorts that offer attractive service packages to corporate and family customers. Casinos are particularly well-suited for EPActs because of their large gaming rooms, hotel rooms, meeting rooms, and parking lots. Each of these features typically uses large square feet and the EPAct benefit has the potential to be up to 60 cents per square foot for each of the three measures described above. Some of the smallest commercial casinos are around 50,000 square feet, while most Casino deposit bonus are typically over 100,000 square feet. One of the largest, the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip, is nearly 2 million square feet. The hotel itself is the most preferred in the Section 179 building category. (See “Hotels and Motels Favorite Energy Policy Act Tax Property”)

The basic rules established to qualify for the Section 179D lighting tax credit make casinos, and particularly casino hotels, the most preferred real estate category as a tax incentive. The rule set requires a reduction of at least 25% per square foot compared to the 2001 American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) building energy code standard. The tax credit is complete with a 40% reduction per square foot compared to the ASHRAE 2001 standard. The ASHRAE 2004 Hotel/Motel Building Code Standard requires a 40% power reduction. This means that hotel or motel lighting fixtures that meet applicable building code requirements will automatically qualify for the maximum EPAct tax credit.

guest room

For most other building categories, Section 179D tax provisions must comply with dual-level conversion requirements. Comparisons are always based on wired, not plug-in lighting. Casino hotel occupancy rooms have the great advantage of the frequent use of plug-in lighting, and since these rooms function as hotel and motel spaces, they are specifically excluded from the tax double-level conversion requirement. Because occupancy is typically one of the larger spaces in hotel casinos, casinos can typically generate large EPAct tax credits for their establishments with energy-efficient lighting.