By Carol Hazard, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.
Dec. 05–Mark and Valerie Hubbard saw an opportunity to become more energy-efficient — and benefit from a federal tax credit that expires at the end of the year.
They had their attic reinsulated last week and, as a result, they will be able to write off some of the costs on their income taxes.
“We had been thinking about doing it and knew about the tax credit,” said Mark Hubbard, who does public relations for Virginians for Reliable Energy, an advocacy group that supports affordable and reliable energy.
“Because it’s an old house, it was clearly losing energy,” he said. “I do hope that our heating and cooling costs will be less.”
The Hubbards paid $675, including labor and materials. They will be able to claim 30 percent of the costs of materials on their 2010 income tax returns.
Some credits — such as those for heat pumps, central air, furnaces and boilers — are for installation costs as well as materials.
In general, federal tax credits are available for high efficiency heating and air conditioning systems, ventilation and insulation, roofs, water heaters, windows, doors and biomass stoves. Information about energy specifications is available at www.energysavers.gov.
To claim the credit, the work needs to be completed and paid for by Dec. 31.
The maximum tax credit is $1,500 in a two-year period from 2009 and 2010, and only for primary residences.
Although most credits are set to expire this year, some are available until 2016. These are for extensive energy savers such geothermal heat pumps, small wind turbines and solar energy systems. Credits for 30 percent of the costs can be claimed for these, and there are no upper monetary limits.
“We’re getting a lot of questions from taxpayers about these credits,” said Sheila Clark, director of operations for Peoples Income Tax, a Richmond-based tax preparation service.
The credits have varied from one year to the next, she said. “It’s been on again, off again for energy credits.”
The credits were implemented in 2005 under President George W. Bush, who signed legislation extending the incentives to Jan. 1, 2011. Congress is considering legislation that will provide credits and/or rebates for weatherizing houses, but the future of the Home Star program is in limbo.
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Copyright (c) 2010, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Va.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
