Energy Credit Questions

[Bjorn]

Aloha,

In 2006 we built a certified Energy Star Home for my family to live in. Do we qualify for the Energy Efficient Home Credit since we were our own contractor?


Since we built our own home can we take the residential energy credit for doors, windows, and water heater?


Can we do sales tax rather than income since we paid sales tax on all the materials?


Mahalo!

Bjorn

[Snaggletooth]

Yes

Bjorn, I would say yes to both questions.

I'm VERY confident about the sales tax issue. You get the sales tax or state income tax, whichever is greater.

The building of your home can fall into several different categories that launch the Residential Energy Credit. In particular, if you have manufacturers' certifications I would say you may have a number of expenditures that qualify. The only thing I'm fuzzy about is whether the credit is for the energy rehabilitation of existing homes instead of new homes.

[newtotaxbooks]

Aloha,

In 2006 we built a certified Energy Star Home for my family to live in. Do we qualify for the Energy Efficient Home Credit since we were our own contractor?


Since we built our own home can we take the residential energy credit for doors, windows, and water heater?


Bjorn

From form 5695 instructions:
Who Can Take the Credits
You may be able to take these credits if you made
energy saving improvements to your home located in
the United States in 2006. For credit purposes, costs
are treated as being paid when the original installation
of the item is completed, or in the case of costs
connected with the construction or reconstruction of
your home, when your original use of the constructed
or reconstructed home begins. If less than 80% of the
use of an item is for nonbusiness purposes, only that
portion of the costs that are allocable to the
nonbusiness use can be used to determine the credit.