Poor wording, a second home. But you have to choose which one you will claim as your “main” home for the credit.
Got my solar tax credits and my CPA says I can't use them, but I can sell them?? Help!
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Brett V
Mad Scientist
You have to carry a high enough tax liability to take a tax credit against it. The notion that you can spend a certain amount on solar and get a third of it back as a refund is a common misconception.
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Plum Crazy Rob
Solar Enthusiast
2nd home, decide for yourselves. The word "principal" is missing from residence for Solar on Irs.gov (by renter, they mean THE TAXPAYER may be renting the residence, not renting it out as the landlord themselves)
- For the Residential Clean Energy Property Credit, the following requirements apply:
- solar water heating property expenditures, solar electric property expenditure, small wind energy property expenditures, geothermal heat pump property expenditures, and battery storage technology expenditures: the home must be located in the United States and used as a residence by the taxpayer (includes renters); and
- fuel cell property expenditures: the home must be located in the United States and used as a principal residence by the taxpayer (includes renters).
If you could sell your solar tax credits you would then have to report it as income and pay taxes on it. Yes, those of us with no tax bill do not get a rebate for buying solar stuff. Just like those of us without kids do not get to claim that deduction. Sadly the tax code is filled with all kinds of social tinkering from the politicians to reward and punish.
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Just stop all tax withholding from your pension and give yourself a raise in take home pay.
I always hate to sell something at 50-70% of face value when I don’t need to.
I’m not aware of a maximum time limit on carry forward of the credits so that is a good question for your CPA.
If they don’t expire I would sign up for no income tax due for a very long time so fast that the pen would melt
.
I always hate to sell something at 50-70% of face value when I don’t need to.
I’m not aware of a maximum time limit on carry forward of the credits so that is a good question for your CPA.
If they don’t expire I would sign up for no income tax due for a very long time so fast that the pen would melt
.
showme
New Member
Wow! Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I didn't mean to make it sound like we're poor, although being a retired union Ironworker means no more overtime jobs, which was always nice. Between S.S., pension and Missouri's 2nd Injury fund, which essentially is a compilation of all work injuries' damage amassed over your lifetime (9 surgeries from IW injuries alone for me). That is compiled with the total degree of body damage, and then computed on the years of loss of work coming from Permanent/Total disability by social securities standards, by which they figure an amount. I get a tax free check every two weeks for the remainder of my life. So my income is not "rich" but comfortable. Also, I bought my system nearly piece by piece over a few years, so it wasn't as painful to my pocket book. But I'm always reminded of a poster I once had, which read, "I've been rich and I've been poor. Rich is better". But then again, I've learned to be content with what I have, and thankful for whatever I get. 
Brett V
Mad Scientist
And keep in mind that since it’s an off grid system, you’ll forget all about that missed tax credit when there’s a long term power outage!
A storm came through here about 4 hours ago and there are widespread power outages. While all my neighbors are in the dark and without water, (we all have wells), life continues as usual for me with the batteries at 94% and in about 9 more hours, the sun will be shining.
A storm came through here about 4 hours ago and there are widespread power outages. While all my neighbors are in the dark and without water, (we all have wells), life continues as usual for me with the batteries at 94% and in about 9 more hours, the sun will be shining.
JWLV
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If you have no taxable income, why do you need a tax guy? All you gotta do is plug in some numbers from your pensions, retirement income, social security, injury fund, etc. into Turbo Tax or Tax Cut, put in the solar credits and see what it spits back out at you. If you can do DIY solar, you can at least double check the accountant's work on your own tax returns.
JWLV
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Yes! That's exactly why I have off grid solar. My entire house is still on the grid, but I have off grid solar with 30kwh battery as backup for power outages or emergencies. And then I have backup for the backup that's completely isolated from the main backup with its own solar panels and 7kwh battery. I'm expecting a brutal summer this year and anticipate there will be some rolling blackouts.
Brett V
Mad Scientist
Same here. I use the grid tie system to save money and the off grid system in place of a generator for outages.
73, de n3bv
Mystery Man
Keep the Dream Alive, hit the snooze button.
This is very misleading, but true. A better visual would be, what percentage of gross earnings do the top 1% pay? Our current system allows the wealthy to deduct so many things, this lowers the percentage of their income taxed. Sometimes less than the average american.
I am sure everyone already knows, the more you make, normally the more in actual dollars you pay in taxes. As it should be.
Dollar amount is not a fair representation and tax havens for the extremely rich continue to erode the middle class.
Personally, my tax rate was high enough to receive the entire credit for my system in one year. An equitable system would give homeowners a refund for installing solar systems. Others have paid taxes all their life, why excluded them. The current skewed system only benefits people who have money to purchase expensive items. Extremely unfair considering lower income people are helping pay for my solar installation. The fix is not for me to forgo the tax credit, but allow all homeowners to receive a refund. Just like the OP, I suspect he paid a fair amount of taxes while working. Just because he is now retired and on a fixed income, he is treated differently.
CRenner
New Member
Most deductions now phase out as your income increases.
Hedges
I See Electromagnetic Fields!
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A lot more than percentage the bottom 40% pay.
TPC: The Number Of Those Who Don’t Pay Federal Income Tax Drops To Pre-Pandemic Levels
After dramatically rising during the worst of the pandemic, the number of households who pay no federal income tax has fallen sharply. It will remain...
(See graph data for 2019 and earlier, before Covid unemployment inflated the figure.)
teal95
Solar Addict
"Lower income" people are generally paying little to no income tax.
Plum Crazy Rob
Solar Enthusiast
Or getting money back they didn't pay in, "Earned Income Credit"
Kuma
New Member
Could be argued the homeless in California are also beneficiary's as 24 Billion, BILLION, was spent on the homeless and housing programs from 2018-2023. Govt waste and programs bothers me far more than the current tax code.
The Biden administration is giving $6.6 billion to a semiconductor project run by the former CEO of Solyndra, the failed solar energy company at the center of an Obama-era scandal over government misspending. $535 Million Obama gave Solyndra.
The Biden administration is giving $6.6 billion to a semiconductor project run by the former CEO of Solyndra, the failed solar energy company at the center of an Obama-era scandal over government misspending. $535 Million Obama gave Solyndra.
wheisenburg
Independent Solar Consultant
I think this is about the solar tax credit. Unfortunately, the solar tax credit is not refundable. There are other credits like the child tax credit where you can actually get money back even if you paid no taxes. With the solar tax credit you can only use it to offset money that you actually owe for income taxes. These credits are not transferable and cannot be sold.
Many less than scrupulous solar installers either don't mention this, or don't know.
You can still sell SRECs even if you owe no income tax. It is a totally different program.
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