The Treasury Department is investigating charges that SolarCity and other third-party solar funds inflated the value of their installations to drive more investment tax credits to their investors.

Insinuations of federal tax benefit abuses are common from anti-renewables forces, but the current charges are represented in part in data from Tax Evasion and Subsidy Pass-Through Under the Solar Investment Tax Credit by University of Colorado economics doctoral candidate Molly Podolefsky.

“Third-party firms generate system prices to report under the ITC which are intended to capture the fair market value of systems,” Podolefsky says. “Over-reporting price allows firms to reap larger tax credits.”

via Why Treasury Is Investigating SolarCity and Solar Third-Party Funds : Greentech Media.