Federal Roofing Tax Credit for Energy Efficiency
Encyclopedia
Goals of the Tax Credit
The 2009 roofing tax creditTax credit
A tax credit is a sum deducted from the total amount a taxpayer owes to the state. A tax credit may be granted for various types of taxes, such as an income tax, property tax, or VAT. It may be granted in recognition of taxes already paid, as a subsidy, or to encourage investment or other behaviors...
is part of a twofold plan rolled out by the United States Federal government
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
. The first and most relevant of goals was intended to stimulate the economy
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
by incentivizing Americans to replace their roofs with more energy efficient roofs, thereby creating jobs by increasing the demand for labor in the roofing, manufacturing
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
, and construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
industries. The other goal of the 2009 Federal Roofing Tax Credit was to reduce carbon emissions to the environment by requiring consumers
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
to install Energy Star
Energy Star
Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products originated in the United States of America. It was first created as a United States government program during the early 1990s, but Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and the European Union have also adopted...
products on their homes in order to receive the tax credit; the installation of Energy Star roofing products in homes would reduce the consumption of electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
needed to maintain the desired temperature within the residence.
Covered by the Roofing Tax Credit
In to qualify for the tax credit, the new roofing materials was required to be metal with an appropriate igment|pigmented coating] or asphaltAsphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
with cooling granules compliant with Energy Star requirements.The Environmental Protection Agency provided a list of some products which satisfy the tax credit's requirement, but consumers should also check with the manufacturer prior to purchase to ensure the materials qualify.
The government has also placed a restriction on the tax credit dictating that the new roof must be installed at the principal residence of the tax payer between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010. Principal residence is defined as a home owned by the party filing for the credit and used as his principal place of residence. Principal residences can include houses
House
A house is a building or structure that has the ability to be occupied for dwelling by human beings or other creatures. The term house includes many kinds of different dwellings ranging from rudimentary huts of nomadic tribes to free standing individual structures...
, houseboats
Houseboat
A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a human dwelling. Some houseboats are not motorized, because they are usually moored, kept stationary at a fixed point and often tethered to land to provide utilities...
, mobile homes
Mobile home
Mobile homes or static caravans are prefabricated homes built in factories, rather than on site, and then taken to the place where they will be occupied...
, cooperative apartments, condominiums
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
, or manufactured homes
Manufactured housing
Manufactured housing is a type of prefabricated housing that is largely assembled in factories and then transported to sites of use...
.
Amount of the Credit
The Federal Roofing Tax Credit for Energy Efficiency is dependent on the cost of the materials used in the renovation. A consumer could only receive a tax credit of up to 30% of the material cost to maximum of $ 1,500. This credit is for funds spent on the Energy Star approved materials, not on installation or labor cost. For example, if the roofing materials cost $5,000 and labor expense was $5,000 resulting in a total cost of $10,000, a tax filer would still only receive a tax credit of $ 1,500, the maximum amount.The Energy Star Difference
It is an advisable idea to utilize materials that will reduce the heat of a homeowner's residence to reduce their energy consumptionDomestic Energy Consumption
Domestic energy consumption is the amount of energy that is spent on the different appliances used within housing. The amount of energy used per household varies widely depending on the standard of living of the country, climate, and the age and type of residence...
and their impact on the environment. However not all consumers will derive the same benefit from the use of a reflective heat-reducing roofs in reducing energy consumption.
Reflective heat reduction roofing or a cool roof
Cool roof
Cool roofs are the roofs that can deliver high solar reflectance and high thermal emittance...
is most beneficial in hot sunny climates. If a home's roof is partially or completely shaded, the homeowner may not benefit as much as someone with a roof that is in direct sunlight
Sunlight
Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon.When the direct solar radiation is not blocked...
. However even if a homeowner's roof is shaded, they will still receive the tax credit, receive benefit of heat reduction roofing, and enjoy a high quality environmentally friendly roof.