Energy credit for MFS

[Randall]

Does the energy credit still apply when MFS?  Is it cut in half for each spouse.  I saw something in the instructions about joint ownership or spouses living apart in two separate houses.  But I was wondering about one house, married couple living together, just filing MFS because of Ohio being being beneificial.

[DANRVAN]

Agree that the instructions are not clear, but I would follow the joint occupancy rule and apply to MFS.  In the case of fuel cells, the instructions specifically states that the joint occupancy rule does not apply to MFJ, so that leaves a door open for MFS.

 

"Joint occupancy.

If you occupied your home jointly with someone other than your spouse, each occupant must complete his or her own Form 5695. To figure the credit, the maximum qualifying costs that can be taken into account by all occupants for qualified fuel cell property costs is $1,667 for each one-half kilowatt of capacity of the property. The amount allocable to you for qualified fuel cell property costs is the lesser of:

The amount you paid, or

The maximum qualifying cost of the property multiplied by a fraction. The numerator is the amount you paid and the denominator is the total amount paid by you and all other occupants.

These rules don't apply to married individuals filing a joint return."