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Solar & battery

Solar Tax Credit Calculator

What a percentage tax credit is worth against a system cost, and what carries over if you cannot use it all.

Your numbers

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Equipment, labour, permitting and, where eligible, storage.
%
$
$
%

Result

Federal credit $6,450
Usable against this year's tax $4,200
Carried to future years $2,250
All incentives together $6,450
Net cost after everything $15,050
The credit is $6,450, but only $4,200 offsets this year's tax. The remaining $2,250 carries forward, which delays the benefit rather than removing it.

Incentives change, expire and differ by state, utility and tax position. Nothing here is tax advice: whether you can use a credit at all depends on your own liability, and a credit is not a rebate. Confirm what applies to you with a tax professional before it affects a purchase decision. A tax credit reduces tax owed, so it is worth nothing to somebody with no liability that year, and the carry-forward rules differ between federal and state programmes. Rebates usually reduce the cost basis the credit is calculated on, which this simplified version does not model.

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Questions

About this calculator

Is a tax credit the same as a rebate?

No. A rebate is money off the price. A credit reduces the tax you owe, so it only helps if you owe tax, and it arrives when you file rather than at purchase.

What if my liability is too small?

Federal residential credits have generally allowed unused amounts to carry forward, but the rules and the timeframe change. This is the point to involve a tax professional rather than a calculator.

Does storage qualify?

Sometimes, and the conditions have changed repeatedly, often depending on whether the battery is charged from the solar array. Verify against current rules for the year of installation.

The formula

credit = eligible cost x credit rate; usable this year is capped by your tax liability

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