The federal government is currently offering to pay 30% or up to $1,500 in the form of a tax credit, for the installation of high efficiency equipment in homes across the nation. The equipment must be approved high-efficiency equipment in order to qualify for the credit with a few additional rules that are listed below.
Customers are eligible for the tax credit for home improvements as long as they meet the following:
-The equipment must be placed into service between January 2009 and December 2010.
-The equipment must be installed in the taxpayer's principal residence except for the installation of geothermal heat pumps, solar water heaters, solar panels, and small wind energy systems. - In these cases, second homes and rentals qualify
-$1,500 is the maximum total amount that can be claimed on all products placed in service in 2009 and 2010 for most home improvements except for geothermal heat pumps, solar heaters, solar panels, fuel cells, and small wind energy systems which are not subject to this cap and are in effect through 2016
-in order to qualify, the taxpayer must have the Manufacturer's Certification Statement- this is a Manufacturer's Certification that is a signed statement from the manufacturer certifying that the product or component qualifies for the tax credit.
-it is recommended that for record keeping, you save your receipts and the certification statement
- improvements made in 2009 are to be claimed on your 2009 tax return which is filed by April 15, 2010 via IRS Tax Form 5695 in order to file- 2010 information is to be determined
