Turbo Tax is saying no credit for biomass stove to vacation home

[TeamPipitone]

I'm in the Energy Saving Home Improvements section.  We put a new energy efficient wood burning stove (considered a biomass stove by IRS) in our vacation home in 2023.  When I search IRS literature to find the rules governing principal residence vs vacation homes (https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/freque[product key removed][product key removed]y-efficient-h...)  it says "biomass stoves or biomass boilers; and improvements to panelboards, sub-panelboards, branch circuits, or feeders: the home must be located in the United States and used as a residence by the taxpayer (includes renters); "

Other sections covering doors/windows specifically call out that the property must be used as the "primary residence".  

To me this means Turbo tax should be allowing this tax credit for my vacation home.  But in Turbo Tax there is a question asking if improvements were made to our main home  If i click "no" on this it then tells me I have no Energy Credit available.

Am I misreading IRS rules or is Turbo Tax not making the adjustment for the subset of energy upgrades allowed to vacation homes?

[JohnW152 · Accepted solution]

No, you're not misreading the rules.

However, there's currently an issue with home energy improvements not qualifying for the Home Energy Credits when they’re made to a second home.

See the TurboTax Help article Why are Home Energy improvements for my second home not qualifying for the Home Energy Credits? for guidance.

[Opus 17]

@JohnW152 

I clicked on the link to the containment article and it worked, but 30 seconds later it doesn't work and now comes back as an unfound page.  Is a problem with the containment article?

[lin0303889]

The link does not work.  Please help.

My solar energy credit for my second home is also denied by Turbo Tax, but according to the IRS documents, it is allowed.

[Opus 17]

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@lin0303889 wrote:

The link does not work.  Please help.

My solar energy credit for my second home is also denied by Turbo Tax, but according to the IRS documents, it is allowed.

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That link should go to a page where you can enter your email address to be notified when the problem is fixed.  I asked a moderator and they confirmed that the problem is known and being worked on, but the moderator didn't know why the link to the email notification page wasn't working.  I would check that link tomorrow to see if it works so you can sign up.  I would guess that it will be about a week for the program to be fixes, based on similar problems in the past.

If the only thing you need to do is claim a solar credit, you can answer that it is your main house, to get the program to claim the credit for you.  

[lin0303889]

Thank you for your reply.  I just checked the link and it is still saying page can't be found.

You suggested to answer the solar energy is for my main home to get the credit.  But it is for my second home, will that be incorrect to claim it for the main home?

[DawnC]

Use this link to sign up for notifications for Form 5695.   Sign up for Form 5695 notifications.    After this is corrected, you will be able to properly indicate the home was a second home.  @lin0303889