IRS Form 3800 · 2025 tax year

Form 3800 when a credit is sold

Both sides file it. The seller shows the credit leaving in Part III, column (f), as a negative number; the buyer shows it arriving as a positive one; and both attach a transfer election statement signed by both.

Verified 11 Oct 2026 · page reviewed 11 Oct 2026

This page follows the 2025 Form 3800 and its instructions, the latest final versions when we checked. Use the version for the tax year you are filing.

Who files what

• The seller (the “eligible taxpayer” or transferor) files the credit’s own form with the registration number on it, Form 3800, and a transfer election statement^[1]. Which form figures which credit is on the forms page.
• The buyer (the transferee) files Form 3800 showing the purchased credit and attaches its own transfer election statement. Both parties attach one to their return for the year of the transfer^[1].
• Partnerships and S corporations that sell or buy complete the name and identifying number on page 1 and the applicable lines of Parts III and V, only for the credits with an election, and attach Form 3800 and, if used, Schedule A (Form 3800)^[1].

Item B, at the top

Item B(i) asks whether you made an entry in Part III, column (f). If yes, item B(ii) asks how many transfer election statements are attached to your return^[2]. It applies to sellers and buyers alike^[1].

Part III: three columns that carry the transfer

If you obtained a registration number but then decide not to transfer, leave column (b) blank^[1].

More than one facility: Part V

• Seller. With several facilities claiming the same credit, complete Part V first, one line per facility, with the Part III line number in column (a). Then combine the amounts in Part III and enter the first registration number in column (b). With one facility, skip Part V^[1].
• Buyer. With credits from several facilities or several pass-through entities, list each one separately in Part V using the registration numbers the sellers provide, then combine them in Part III^[1].
• Column (a) of Part III then shows how many facilities or entities you listed in Part V for that credit^[1].

The transfer election statement

Seller and buyer each attach one to their return for the year of the transfer. It can be Schedule A (Form 3800) or any other document with the required information and signatures, such as the purchase and sale agreement^[1].

Schedule A (Form 3800)

• Complete it in full^[1].
• Line 1: the form you filed to figure the credit.
• Line 2: the IRS-issued registration number.
• Line 3: the credit sold to this buyer this year. It is all or part of the negative amount in the seller’s column (f), and all or part of the positive amount in the buyer’s column (f).
• Line 4: the amount and date of each payment, on lines 4a to 4h^[1].
• Signatures. Both parties sign. If the schedule is not signed by both, the transfer is invalid. When filing electronically, complete every line except the signature block, have both parties sign, save it as a PDF named “Schedule A Form 3800” and attach it^[1].

Another document instead

The file must be named “Transfer Election Statement” and contain^[1]:

• the name, address and taxpayer identification number of both parties;
• the credit’s form and part number as shown on Form 3800, Part III, the total credit determined for the facility or property, and the amount transferred;
• the seller’s tax year and the buyer’s first tax year in which it takes the credit into account;
• each cash payment and its date;
• the registration number;
• an attestation that the parties are not related within the meaning of section 267(b) or 707(b)(1);
• the seller’s representation that it has met every requirement of §6418 and of the credit’s own section, including prevailing wage, apprenticeship and domestic content where they apply;
• where applicable, both parties’ acknowledgement of the recapture notification requirement in section 6418(g)(3).

What the seller must give the buyer

Whichever statement you use, the seller must give the buyer at least^[1]:

• information that validates that the property exists, which can include third-party evidence from, for example, a county, a utility or an insurer;
• if the credit includes bonus amounts, documentation that the seller met the bonus requirements;
• evidence of qualifying costs, for an investment credit, or of qualifying production and sales, for a production credit.

The buyer’s side

• Timing. The buyer takes the credit into account in its first tax year ending with, or after, the seller’s tax year in which the credit was determined. From then on the buyer, not the seller, is treated as the taxpayer for that credit^[1].
• Passive activity rules. Some buyers apply sections 38 and 469 and file Form 8582-CR or Form 8810. This covers noncorporate taxpayers, personal service corporations and closely held corporations that bought a credit for cash, and partners or shareholders of a buying partnership or S corporation^[1].
• Partnership or S corporation buyers attach a statement to Form 1065 or 1120-S for each credit bought, and complete Part III (and Part V) with the seller’s registration number and EIN^[1].
  • Partners and shareholders receive their share on Schedule K-1: Form 1065 box 15, or Form 1120-S box 13, code BC.
  • They enter it in their own Part III with the seller’s registration number and the entity’s EIN.

Two consequences that outlast the return

• Basis. When a §48, §48C or §48E credit is sold, the basis reduction rule of section 50(c) applies to the property as if the seller had been allowed the credit^[1].
• Excessive credit transfer. If the IRS finds that the buyer claimed more than the credit actually determined, the buyer’s tax increases by the excess plus 20 percent of it^[3]. That increase, and any recapture, is reported on Form 4255^[4]. The risk page covers the reasonable-cause exception and insurance.

Checklist: what must agree between seller and buyer

• The same registration number appears on the seller’s credit form, in column (b) or Part V of both Forms 3800, and on the statement.
• The amount on Schedule A line 3 sits within the seller’s negative column (f) and the buyer’s positive column (f).
• Both signatures are on the statement.
• Item B(ii) matches the number of statements attached.
• The buyer claims the credit in the right tax year: its first year ending with or after the seller’s year.