I had solar panels installed in October of 2021 and I only received a small part of the refund I was told I would get. Do I get the rest this year?

[kendra-lee-19]

I was told I would get around $8500 back for solar, but I only got $1500 last year.

[DoninGA]

Any unused 2021 credit would rollover to tax year 2022.  If the credit reduces your tax liability to zero on the 2022 tax return, any remaining credit will rollover to 2023.

[NCperson]

@kendra-lee-19 - the solar credit is what is called a "non-refundable' credit - it can reduce Line 18 of Form 1040, but it can go no lower than zero; I suspect that is what occured to you in 2021.  The Solar credit can be 'rolled over' to 2022 (and as many years forward as nececssary to consume it).

But again, the same thing will occur in 2022....whatever tax credit you had leftover from 2021 can be used to reduce Line 18 on Form 1040 for 2022, but it can't go below zero. 

[Opus 17]

We really can't answer without more details.  For example, if you would have owed $3000, but you got $1500 back, then you really used up $4500 of the credit.

If you did not use all the credit in 2021, the amount of carry forward will be listed on line 16 of your 2021 form 5695.  When you prepare your 2022 return, run the home energy efficient improvements interview because even if you did not make additional improvements, this interview is where you will report your credit carry forward from your 2021 form 5695.

[Critter-3]

Since the solar folks don't know your income tax situation all they could tell you was how much credit you were eligible for but they could not tell you how it would affect the actual return and what the bottom line refund would be.  As already stated it could only reduce your federal taxes to zero ... the refund would be from "payments" you made during the year usually that means your various withholdings and refundable credits if you had any.