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Sean Kelly

Sean focuses on banking and finance law. After working as a Certified Public Accountant, Sean transitioned to law in order to advise business clients in a more dynamic setting. His background in accounting gives him a distinct perspective on the tax implications of transactions and business decisions, offering clients insight into potential adverse tax consequences.

Sean was drawn to financial law thanks to his CPA experience and a heavy transactional course load in law school. As a summer associate at the firm, he worked primarily with the Banking & Finance team, drafting and reviewing financing documents. Today, he partners with clients, assisting businesses in obtaining financing and proactively structuring their operations to avoid future tax complications.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, 2025, provides for enhanced restrictions on entities claiming many of the renewable energy credits established under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). Namely, the bill prohibits foreign entities of concern (FEOCs), as well as domestic entities that are related to or otherwise engage in significant transactions with FEOCs, from claiming such credits. The credits that are subject to the new FEOC limitations under the bill include:

  • the Clean Energy Production Credit (Section 45Y);
  • the Clean Electricity Investment Credit (Section 48E);
  • the Zero-Emission Nuclear Power Production Credit (Section 45U);
  • the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit (Section 45X);
  • the Credit for Carbon Oxide Sequestration (Section 45Q); and
  • the Clean Fuel Production Credit (Section 45Z).

The Senate Finance Committee recently released its own draft of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (the Bill) previously passed by the House as H.R. 1. Both the House and Senate versions of the Bill impose restrictions on Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax credits based on “material assistance” from “Foreign Entities of Concern” (FEOCs). The House version lacked significant details on what “material assistance” was. The Senate Bill provides significant details on the structure and operation of the restrictions.

Lately, elected representatives on both sides of the aisle have been displaying an appetite for expanding transferable tax credits to a broader variety of industries. This is evidenced by the recent profusion of proposed legislation that endeavors to subsidize emerging or important technologies with such valuable, transferable credits. This glut of proposed legislation—and the significant opportunities it may afford to the savvy buyer or seller—only promises to increase in importance with federal tax reform on the horizon.