Tax Credits for Replacing Your Roof

Welcome!

Brought to you by the National Association of Realtors^®

Find HouseLogic on:: Facebook; |; Twitter
About the Site Hide This

You care about your home. The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® cares about homeownership. To help you become the best, most responsible homeowner you aspire to be, we want to provide you with free information and tools you can use to make smart and timely decisions about your home.

From time to time, we may reach out to you to help us support legislation and/or policies that may have an impact on you, the homeowner. You can choose to join our cause. Or you can choose not to. Regardless, your privacy is safe with us.

We'll never share or sell your email address or other personal information you may provide us in the course of using the site with anyone without your explicit consent.

Published: January 09, 2013
By: Gil Rudawsky
Be the first to comment
7 People Did It

Did you literally put a new roof over your head in 2012, or will you in 2013? You may be eligible for a $500 energy tax credit for the roof replacement.

Effort: Low 1 day (research)
Saves: High Up to $45/mo (cooling bills)
Investment: High $18,488 (new roof)

If you added a heat-efficient metal or asphalt roof to your house, you’ll be better equipped to fight August’s heat. And since the government extended the energy tax credit for existing homes, you may be able to claim the $500 energy tax credit by filing IRS Form 5695 with your return.

Tax credit limits and deadlines:

10% of expenditures, up to a lifetime $500, for all energy improvements combined.

A relevant roof must have been installed by Dec. 31, 2013.

Save receipts and labels.

For roofs, installation isn’t covered.

See Energy Star for guidelines on what exactly is covered. It’s your safest bet for information on how to get the credit.

Be warned that not all roofs, not even all roofs with the Energy Star seal, will qualify. Only specially manufactured roofs, as listed on the Energy Star site, are eligible.

Don’t rely solely on contractors who may not know the details or who promise their products will get the credit in order to make a sale.

Read on to learn more:

Roof costs and savings
Choosing the right roof
Finding the right roof vendor
Sometimes, replacing a roof isn’t worth it

Next: Roof costs and savings

Gil Rudawsky

has covered business and consumer issues for 18 years, most recently as a deputy editor at the Rocky Mountain News. He lives in a house built in the 1930s, and always keeps the home’s character in mind when making upgrades.

1 2 3 4 5 Next