Residential energy credit for solar panels on RV

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donandlin

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Jul 14, 2010
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We are full timers that installed 800W of solar on our motorhome.  Does a motorhome qualify for the energy credit if it is your only residence?  I see where mobile home and houseboat do but no mention of RV.
 
Good Question.  Hope someone in the know can provide an answer. Logically, it seems like it should, given that you can take the interest off your RV home, even as a second home, before even going full-time.
 
http://www.rvforum.net/SMF_forum/index.php/topic,101398.0.html

See if the post above helps answer your questions.

It's posted under the "SOLAR" board.

Linda
 
If your RV qualifies as a home for mortgage interest deduction, why wouldn't it also qualify for energy credits?

I would take the credit and challenge the IRS if questioned.  If the IRS says my RV is a home (for mortgage interest deduction), it is a home.

 
It does qualify for the solar credit.  I took it on my current TT when I added solar.
 
This in the IRS instructions seems to unequivocally exclude part-timers:


"Who Can Take the Credits

Main home. Your main home is generally the home where you live most of the time."
 
Sun2Retire said:
This in the IRS instructions seems to unequivocally exclude part-timers:


"Who Can Take the Credits

Main home. Your main home is generally the home where you live most of the time."

I would take the credit and argue with the IRS if audited.  Worst case:  they disallow.
 
The OP clearly states he is fulltiming. That tells me the RV is his primary residence, and should be allowed the solar energy credits.
 
Sun2Retire said:
This in the IRS instructions seems to unequivocally exclude part-timers:


"Who Can Take the Credits

Main home. Your main home is generally the home where you live most of the time."

They must have changed the rules, because it use to include a second home as well as a primary residence. 
 
sadixon49 said:
The OP clearly states he is fulltiming. That tells me the RV is his primary residence, and should be allowed the solar energy credits.

Yup, got that and agree. Was simply pointing out that it appears only fulltimers get the credit
 
Drifterrider said:
If your RV qualifies as a home for mortgage interest deduction, why wouldn't it also qualify for energy credits?

No RV can have a mortgage, just like a mobile/manufactured home can't get a mortgage.
 
One can quibble about the definition of a "mortgage", but I'll leave that to the lawyers. Regardless of the definition, the interest on an RV loan is deductible on federal incomes taxes as long as the RV itself is the collateral for the loan and you don't take the interest deduction for more than one other home (there is a limit of two "homes' for the interest deduction).

The Energy Credit has different rules than the interest deduction, so the fact that interest is deductible doesn't really mean anything.  An RV does qualify as a residence, but the "main" or primary home clause of the energy Credit is relevant to RVs. Part time RVers can conceivably qualify if they don't have any other residence that is more of a "main home" than the RV, but that can get highly subjective. For practical purposes, the RV has to be the full time or "most time" home.
 
Over the last couple of years I have followed a few topics on another forum discussing this very issue.  A few members stated they have taken the tax credit.  HOWEVER, I have not see any reports of the results of an IRS audit of a tax return for someone taking the tax credit for solar on an RV.

Anyone can take any kind of deduction or tax credit they want on their tax return.  If/when that tax return is audited, then you will find out for sure if you have complied with the nuances of the law.  That applies even if you have a professional prepare your taxes.

 
Gary RVer Emeritus said:
One can quibble about the definition of a "mortgage", but I'll leave that to the lawyers. Regardless of the definition, the interest on an RV loan is deductible on federal incomes taxes as long as the RV itself is the collateral for the loan and you don't take the interest deduction for more than one other home (there is a limit of two "homes' for the interest deduction).

The Energy Credit has different rules than the interest deduction, so the fact that interest is deductible doesn't really mean anything.  An RV does qualify as a residence, but the "main" or primary home clause of the energy Credit is relevant to RVs. Part time RVers can conceivably qualify if they don't have any other residence that is more of a "main home" than the RV, but that can get highly subjective. For practical purposes, the RV has to be the full time or "most time" home.

Hmm, interesting. Thank you. People say you can't get a loan to buy a mobile home or a second mortgage on one since it is moveable, and thus, hideable, so it can't be  used as collateral. Plus, you don't own the land, so the land owner could just deny access to the Sheriff and locksmith to the home in case it was foreclosed on. So why can you get a loan on a car or RV, since it is also moveable. I don't know
 
I think the answer is that they're both loans but of different types.  You can get a loan on many things, including motorhomes, mobile homes, trucks, cars and the like, but you can only get the mortgage type of loan on a stick and brick home.  I've heard a lot of people refer to the motorhome loans as a "mortgage" but it's really just a bank loan.

ArdraF
 
ArdraF said:
I think the answer is that they're both loans but of different types.  You can get a loan on many things, including motorhomes, mobile homes, trucks, cars and the like, but you can only get the mortgage type of loan on a stick and brick home.  I've heard a lot of people refer to the motorhome loans as a "mortgage" but it's really just a bank loan.

ArdraF
You appear knowledgeable about the details about loans.  Would you provide what specific loan details which defines a mortgage versus a bank loan on mobile home or a RV?  Especially if both of them come from a bank. 

I know that with a sticks and bricks you have a deed which is filed with a government entity like the county, and with a RV you have a title from the state.  But that has little or nothing to do with the loan. 
 
Technically any loan that uses an item as collateral for the loan is a "mortgage", but in practical speaking the finance industry uses the term 'mortgage' to mean a home purchase loan.  Whether a bank or lender chooses to offer a 'mortgage' on a particular item is a matter of their policy, not law. However, government institutions such as FHA and Fanny-Mae also have policies against using portable collateral, so few lenders allow mortgages on things like mobile homes and RVs. None of that affects the federal tax return, though. The IRS has its own explicit requirements for taking various deductions and as long as those are adhered to, the deduction is valid.

As far as the Residential Energy Credit is concerned, Form 5695 & its instructions are the governing documents. There are two key requirements in just two words: "main home".

5695 defines "Home" as follows:
Home.
A home is where you lived in 2016 and can include a house, houseboat, mobile home, cooperative apartment, condominium, and a manufactured home that conforms to Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards

RVs do NOT conform to manufactured home  standards or to any residential construction standard (aka building code) - that's what makes them a "Recreational Vehicle' rather than a residence. Nor does just any boat with a galley & a toilet - only certain purpose-built houseboats will meet the federal residential requirements.

Main home.
Your main home is generally the home where you live most of the time. A temporary absence due to special circumstances, such as illness, education, business, military service, or vacation, won't change your main home.


An RV might qualify as "main", but it still fails the "home" test.
 
And then there is the following quote from the IRS form 5695.  The highlighting is mine, not from the original form.

Residential Energy Efficient Property
Credit (Part I)
If you made energy saving improvements to more than one
home that you used as a residence during 2016, enter the total
of those costs on the applicable line(s) of one Form 5695.
For
qualified fuel cell property, see Lines 7a and 7b, later.
You may be able to take a credit of 30% of your costs of
qualified solar electric property, solar water heating property,
small wind energy property, geothermal heat pump property,
and fuel cell property. Include any labor costs properly allocable
to the onsite preparation, assembly, or original installation of the
residential energy efficient property and for piping or wiring to
interconnect such property to the home. The credit amount for
costs paid for qualified fuel cell property is limited to $500 for
each one-half kilowatt of capacity of the property.

Qualified solar electric property costs. Qualified solar
electric property costs are costs for property that uses solar
energy to generate electricity for use in your home located in the
United States. No costs relating to a solar panel or other
property installed as a roof (or portion thereof) will fail to qualify
solely because the property constitutes a structural component
of the structure on which it is installed. The home doesn't have to
be your main home.
 
Good info! I missed that in my previous reading.  There are a couple different angles on the Energy Credit thing.

In any case, follow the #5695 deduction rules and don't get mix in the rules for other types of deductions, bank loans, etc.
 
I was always under the assumption that an RV could be a second home deduction, but only if you had a primary qualifying primary home.  Is that not correct?
 
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