Tax credits for the DIYer

These are tax CREDITS, not tax deductions. 30% of the cost. Up to $1500 for small projects, no limit for big-ticket items such as tapping geothermal energy.

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Reply to
HeyBub
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And just like last years giant mega subsidies for grinding up food to make ethanol to keep the SUVs going many are just plain stupid, wasteful and ill-conceived. But I wouldn't expect anything less from the government. Our state will transfer your neighbor's and maybe even folks you don't know money to you for such ridiculous projects as building a windmill even though we are the second worst place in the US for windmills. It is about as practical and sensible as awarding grants for a pineapple farm even though we are in zone 5.

Reply to
George

You need to look more closely to see through the hype. I investigated the claims of "30% tax credit with no limit" for small wind generators (good excuse to put up a tower here and plenty of wind), but investigating the actual IRS forms for this showed that the reality is you can enter 30% of the total project cost on the first line, however the credit is actually limited to $1,000 per 1kW of system capacity and capped at $4,000 maximum (IRS form 5695).

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lists the various credits and links to the IRS forms, so you can see the realities for the various credits. They do exist and certainly if you are doing some of these projects you can get some benefit from them, but as usual they are not as advertised.

Reply to
Pete C.

It is still starting to become attractive. There are usually state rebates too. It still won't pay the whole $5-8 per watt these things cost but you do get a payback from the utility bill you are not paying. I still doubt the numbers really work until you are out in year 10 with no intervening maintenance. I am thinking about starting with something like a solar powered pool pump. That is a pretty steady bill that is not really a critical application. As long as you get several hours a day you can get by. I already use a solar pool heater and that works great for virtually nothing. If running the pump was free it would be nothing.

Reply to
gfretwell

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