I was wondering if anyone on the forum was familar with this credit.  My wife and I finished our new home last year and in doing our taxes see we are eligible for this credit.  I have contacted 3 companies that are RESNET - www.resnet.us certified.  From reading the IRS document here is the link.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8908.pdf

I have determined that a RESNET certified individual has to do the inspection.  However, each one of the companies has given me a different answer.

Company 1 - They said my house would qualify no problem and they could do the inspection after I gave them some of the details.
Company 2 - They want my plans and lots of details about the house so they can put it in their modeling software and see if it is eligible
Company 3 - They said they would have to do a open wall inspection during construction for this.

I am not sure a accountant would know the answer to my question so I appeal to the forum to see if someone might be able to help.  Let me know if you need any other information and thanks in advance.

I have received the credit a couple of times. I know it is geared towards builders not homeowners, but not sure of the exact requirements. the homes I received it on were Energy Star rated so they were both modeled and tested. ES requires several inspections, but I can't say for certain that some companies might not fake the inspections and enter it anyway. The modeling software has a report that shows if your house qualifies,and which you turn in with your tax return so they have to do the modeling anyway.

Bob thanks for the reply.  Did you receive the credits before 2013?  It looks like the credit changed this year and requires this RESNET certified inspection.  i am not sure if the energy star suffices anymore.  You also don't have to have the inspection paperwork submitted with your return in 2013.  you just have to have the inspection papers if you get audited which seems silly to me.  i would think they would want to see you actually passed the inspection.  Normally this is a credit for builders however, since we were the General Contractor on our house we are eligible

the first was 2011; the second last year, although due to CPA retiring and a lot of delays and resultant confusion I'm not clear what actually happened.

What are the amounts of tax credits given to the G.C.?

in 2011 it was $2000.

It currently is still $2,000. the inspectors are telling me it is $500 for the inspections. So quite a bit amount of money to spend to see if it will meet the specs.

Is it like a income tax credit?

Is it like a income tax credit? That is what it is.

For those who haven't built yet, signing up for Energy Star is a very good idea since you get the tests done as part of the package. Unfortunately after the fact it becomes far more difficult since they can't see the insulation and if the blower door test indicates too much infiltration, it is difficult to fix.

So when building a new energy efficient home you should sign up for this energy star to get federal tax credits. The county i am going to build in requires a resnet form filled out prior to giving me a building permit and also requires blower door tests at the appropiate time. Are there any other programs out there to get credits for building an efficient home?

Different inspectors are going to have different levels of concern. If someone asks me to "certify" a geo loop system already in the ground I would decline as I can't see it. Another person might certify based on the geo performance.

While not able to see your insulation, one could still judge your home by performance. Neither is really wrong just different ideas on what we'll sign our names to. If the only criteria you haven't met is this inspection, I'd pay the $500