I am acting as the general contractor in the construction of my new house. Just wondering if anybody knows if it is possible to qualify for the $2,000.00 federal tax credit available to professional homebuilders for building energy effecient homes? I have talked with the person who figures my taxes and he’s not totally sure on how to make it work because I am not purchasing the house from a professional homebuilder. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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Replies
Don't know if this can help you as it's for solar but might be worth looking into.
http://seia. org/manualdownlo ad.php
bump
damn, am I fat!
WOW that is an odd response from your accountant. I was pretty sure it was teh home owner, THE ONE SPENDING THE MONEY, who could qualify for this type of credit. You might have to do a bit of homework. Never, trust your accountant to know the tax law! NO ONE KNOWS IT ALL! One guy has a home office, one guy adopts a child, one owns tax exempt bonds in another state, .... the code is a mess. However, this one sure be pretty easy to check out, and you accountant should be happy to do it since it should not be the last time he runs across this issue.
Unfortunately, it is only the contractor who qualifies for the credit. Doesn't make any sense to me. If you hire a contractor to build you an efficient house, you're the one paying more for it. Both buyers and builders should be eligible for the credit.We gc'd our own house as well. Since we took out the construction loan and the permit, I'm planning on claiming that credit. Don't know the legal answer though. I've thought about calling the IRS help line to ask, but they probably won't know either.Jo
Contractor? Go figure.
Call the IRS? NIne out of ten times, if I call teh IRS I know more about the issue in question than the operator. Discusting! And if they give you the wrong answer, well sorry you pay the fine.
If I were you I would take the credit. You are the contractor, right? You won't get audited anyway. I am in no way suggesting cheaping on your taxes! I certainly don't beleive in it. But, it makes sense that you are the contractor. The point of the law is to encourage people to do energy efficent things and that is what you are doing. Again, no justification. With the tax code, which even your accountant can't figure out, sometimes you ahve to guess. If you make a mistake you pay the fine.