Federal Tax Credits
& Rebates
The federal Inflation Reduction Act has all sorts of tax credits and rebates that can help you pay for weatherization and save you money on your heating bill. These federal incentives will be a game changer for Middleborough residents, who are not eligible for MassSave rebates.
We Love Tax Credits!
In 2023 federal tax credits for energy efficiency measures increased from $300 to $3,200, with no more lifetime caps. This is great news for taxpayers. Unlike a deduction, a tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in your taxes.
You can get a federal tax credit of 30% of your cost of a wide range of energy-saving measures. The cap for heat pumps and heat pump water heaters, for example, is $2,000. Then you can take up to $1,200 more for 30% of the cost of insulation, windows, doors, electric panel upgrades, and more. See the Energy Star federal tax credit guide for details.
The tax credit is available now, and you can take it every year you make energy-efficiency home improvements. If you haven’t had an energy assessment in the past two years, sign up for one now at the link below. The assessment can help you plan which home improvements to make over several years, to make the most of the annual tax credit.
To learn more, check out our comprehensive Guide to Rebates and Tax Credits. This is the only place where you can find every federal, state, and local rebate, tax credit, and financing tool for energy improvements available to Middleborough residents.
We Love Rebates Too!
Some big federal rebates are coming with the Inflation Reduction Act, too. We’re still waiting to hear how Massachusetts will administer them, which we expect to start in early 2025. A rebate is money you get back after you’ve paid for your weatherization work.
We do know this: Middleborough residents will be able to to apply for new federal rebates up to $8,000 for energy-saving measures such as insulation, air sealing, and heat pumps. And we have been actively advocating for even higher rebates (see box).
For now, we expect the size of your federal rebate will depend on projected energy savings and income guidelines. Your income can be higher than you’d think in order to qualify for a federal rebate. We estimate* that a 4-person household with up to $195,000 annual income can get a rebate for 50% of costs with a $4,000 cap, and a 4-person household with up to $104,000 annual income can get a 100% rebate with an $8,000 cap.
We are watching this closely. Watch our website for updates, or contact us at sustainablemiddleborough@gmail.com to get our alerts.
*Estimated using the U.S. Housing and Urban Development 2024 Adjusted Home Income Limits. These income guidelines could change.
We Say No to the State
In spring 2024 we at Sustainable Middleborough were shocked when the state Department of Environmental Resources (DOER) released its plan to distribute large federally funded rebates in a way that was inequitable to us in municipal utility towns.
It’s complicated, but in short: DOER proposed to give municipal utility ratepayers a plan that would likely require a one-time major energy retrofit—e.g. installing heat pumps and insulation at the same time—for smaller and fewer rebates than what the other 300-some towns in the state will get.
We wrote a letter for DOER’s comment period signed by nearly 150 officials and advocates among the 41 municipal utility towns.
Read more in our press release. And sign up for our alerts so we can let you know when to call or write about issues like this one.
In case you missed it…
You can still watch our workshop on the Inflation Reduction Act and how to save on your heating bill, with Loie Hayes, the energy efficiency specialist at Green Energy Consumers Alliance.
Did You Know?
You can also sign up for updates as new federal rebates roll out for insulation, heat pumps, electric vehicles, and more here.
WHAT YOU CAN
DO NOW
You can calculate how much money you could get from the new Inflation Reduction Act using this tool.
Start Weatherizing Now
Sign Up for Your Energy Assessment:
