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Home Energy Tax Credit Usage

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Approximately 2.3 million tax returns filed for tax year 2023 utilized the Energy Efficient Home Improvement credit (25C tax credit), according to the latest IRS clean energy tax credit statistics. Through May 23rd of the 2024 tax filing season for 2023 returns, almost 138 million tax returns had been filed with the IRS, which indicates that 1.7% of returns filed utilized the 25C credit. There are various types of improvements that can be claimed under the 25C credit; each improvement varies in its cost and credit amount. Additionally, claim rates of the 25C tax credit varies across taxpayers’ incomes as well as geographies. This post examines these data.

The 25C tax credit allows homeowners to claim qualifying energy efficiency improvements to their primary or secondary residence. Renters can also claim the credit for certain energy efficient appliance and product expenditures. The 25C credit amount is based on 30% of the improvement’s cost and is subject to the improvement’s specific credit limit. For improvements such as electric or natural gas heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, or biomass stoves/boilers, the credit limit per year is $2,000. All other home improvements, such as efficient AC units, insulation/air sealing or home energy audits are limited to a combined credit limit of $1,200, with individual limitations for each item. The total annual credit amount that can be claimed is $3,200 per year. The table below from the Department of Energy shows the available tax credit amounts for tax years 2023 through 2032.

Cost of Improvement and Usage

The credit can cover both the purchase and installation costs for heat pumps, energy efficient AC units, furnaces/ boilers, water heaters, biomass stoves/ boilers, and electric panel/circuit board upgrades. For building envelope components (insulation, doors, windows, skylights), only the purchase can be covered.

The recent IRS data indicates that the most expensive improvement claimed in tax year 2023 was the purchase and installation of electric or natural gas heat pumps at an average cost of $11,213. The costliest item that did not cover installation costs was exterior windows and skylights at $9,143.

Shown below in orange are the average costs for each 25C improvement item in the IRS data. In blue is the credit amount of each improvement, based on its average cost and applicable credit limits. For almost all items, 30% of the improvement’s cost far surpass the credit limit amounts. The only exceptions are heat pump water heaters and biomass stoves/broilers that on average do not exceed the credit limit.

For example, the average cost of installation and purchase of a biomass stove/broiler was $5,221. Taking 30% of this cost, we find a credit amount of $1,566, which is below the credit limit of $2,000 for this improvement. Compared with the costliest improvement, electric or natural gas heat pumps, 30% of the average cost is $3,364. This is above the credit limit, making the largest possible credit amount $2,000 for electric or natural gas heat pumps installation and purchase. The average credit amount, shown below in purple, was $882, well below the maximum possible credit limit of $3,200, shown in light purple.

Of the 2.3 million taxpayers that claimed the 25C credit, the most frequent improvement was the purchase of insulation or air sealing materials or system with 699,440 returns (29.9%). This improvement is the only item to the combined cap of $1,200 that also has an individual limit of $1,200. Improvements that have a combined limit of $1,200 are in the green shaded box below. The least claimed improvement was home energy audits, which also had the lowest credit limit of $150.

Income and Geographic Differences

The highest claim rate of the 25C credit by income was for taxpayers in the $200,000-$500,000 income range, with 4.83% of returns claiming a 25C tax credit. The lowest was for incomes between $1-$10,000, as 0.02% of returns claimed the credit.

Geographically, the highest claim rate of the 25C tax credit was in Maine, with 3.03% of tax returns in the state claiming 25C. The lowest rate was in Hawaii, where only 0.50% of returns claimed the credit. Usage was significantly higher in the Midwest and Northeast, as the top 10 usage rates were all located in these regions.

While Maine has the highest claim rate, Washington had the highest average credit amount at $1,191. The lowest average credit amount was in Iowa, at $743. Of particular note, Michigan and Wisconsin had low average credit amounts but were among the top ten in terms of claim rates. In Michigan, the average credit amount was $747, ranking 49th (includes DC), while the claim rate was 9th at 2.45%. In Wisconsin, the average credit amount was $761, ranking 48th, and the claim rate was 6th, at 2.51%. The reasoning for this trend could be due to the type of improvements by region but there is no IRS data published yet to clarify this hypothesis.

Additionally, usage rates could be relatively lower in the Southern portion of the U.S. because the costliest items, such as heat pumps, are not as critical as regional weather is warmer. Since this credit cannot be applied to new construction, it should also be noted that most new homes are being built with central AC, making it less likely to be claimed as a 25C improvement. Also, most homes in the North are built without heat pumps which allows for more opportunity for the cost to be claimed under 25C if such improvement is made. Nationally, the claim rate was 1.7% with an average credit amount of $882.

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State and Local Tax Revenue – 2024 Second Quarter Analysis

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State & local tax revenue from property taxes paid reached $780.9 billion in the four quarters ending in the second quarter of 2024 (seasonally adjusted), according to the Census Bureau’s estimates. This is a 1.7% increase from the revised $767.7 billion in the four quarters ending in the first quarter of 2024. Year-to-date, total state and local tax revenue was $1.05 trillion. This was 5% higher than the $995.7 billion through the first two quarters of 2023.

The 1.7% increase in the four-quarter property tax revenue was down from the previous quarter of 1.8%. Property tax revenues have continued to grow above the average rate of 0.96% since 2011, with this quarter marking the seventh consecutive quarter of above average growth.

Year-over-year, property tax revenue was 9.1% higher. Year-over-year growth in property tax revenue has consistently been above 9% for four consecutive quarters. Dating back to 2012, the average year-over-year growth is 4.0%.

The property tax share of total state & local tax collections in the second quarter stood at 37.8%, down from 37.9%. This was the first decline in the share since its recent trough in the third quarter of 2022 (33.7%).

Of total collections, property tax made up the largest share, followed by sales tax at 28.0%. Individual income tax represented 25.5% of tax revenue, while corporate tax made up the remaining 8.7% of revenues for state & local revenues in the second quarter of 2024.

Over the past decade, state & local governments have been most reliant on property taxes for revenue. Sales tax has had an increased importance since 2023, when the share of sales tax of total revenues grew above individual income tax shares. See the chart below for the trends of total tax revenues shares.

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Capital Gains Tax On Real Estate And Selling Your Home | Bankrate

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Key takeaways

Capital gains tax is a levy imposed by the IRS on the profits made from selling an investment or asset, including real estate.

Primary residences have different capital gains guidelines than rental and investment properties do.

It’s possible to lower the capital gains tax you owe by taking advantage of available deductions, exemptions and exclusions.

Naturally, you want to make a nice profit on your home when you sell it. But beware a bite in your earnings when tax day rolls around: the capital gains tax. If your home has substantially increased in value, you could be liable for a substantial sum when you pay your annual income tax.

Fortunately, there are ways to avoid or reduce the capital gains tax on a home sale to keep as much profit in your pocket as possible. Here’s everything you need to know.

What is the capital gains tax on real estate?

Key terms

Capital gains tax
A levy imposed by the IRS on profits made from the sale of an asset, such as stocks or real estate — that profit is considered taxable income.

Long-term capital gains
A tax on assets held for more than one year.

Property value
The amount a buyer is likely to pay for a real estate asset (i.e., property).

Broadly speaking, capital gains tax is the tax owed on the profit (aka, the capital gain) you make when you sell an investment or asset. It is calculated by subtracting the asset’s original cost or purchase price (the “tax basis”), plus any expenses incurred, from the final sale price.

Special rates apply for long-term capital gains on assets owned for over a year. The long-term capital gains tax rates are 15 percent, 20 percent and 28 percent (for certain special asset types, like small business stock collectibles), depending on your income.

Real estate, including residential real estate, counts as a taxable asset. Therefore, any financial gains from a home sale must be reported to the IRS: You calculate and pay any money due when filing your tax return for the year you sold the property.

While its rates are typically lower than ordinary income tax rates, the capital gains tax can still add up, especially on profits for big-ticket items like a home — the largest single asset many people will ever own. The capital gains tax on real estate directly ties into your property’s value and any increases in its value. If your home substantially appreciated after you bought it, and you realized that appreciation when you sold it, you could have a sizable, taxable gain.

How much is capital gains tax on a primary residence?

Calculating capital gains tax in real estate can be complex. The tax rate depends on several factors:

Your income tax bracket
Your marital status
How long you’ve owned the house
Whether the house was your primary residence, a secondary residence or an investment property

Star Alt

Keep in mind: The tax is only assessed on the profit itself. If you purchased a house five years ago for $250,000 and sold it today for $500,000, your profit would be $250,000. (Though there are deductions you could take that would effectively reduce your net profit.) You would need to report the home sale and potentially pay a capital gains tax on the $250,000 profit.

For the 2023 tax year, you are not subject to capital gains taxes if your taxable income is $44,625 or less ($89,250 if married and filing jointly). If it’s between $44,626 and $492,300 as a single filer, or between $89,251 and $553,850 if married and filing jointly, you would pay 15 percent on the $250,000 profit. Above those top amounts, the capital gains rate would be 20 percent.

However, the IRS gives home sellers multiple ways to avoid or reduce their capital gains taxes, principally if their property is a primary residence. You can exempt a certain amount of the profit — up to $250,000 or $500,000, depending on your filing status — from the tax if you meet certain conditions.

An ill-timed sale could result in a significant tax bill that could have otherwise been avoided.
— Greg McBride, Bankrate Chief Financial Analyst

“Before selling your home, familiarize yourself with the capital gains tax exclusion rules and consult a tax advisor,” says Greg McBride, Bankrate’s chief financial analyst. “An ill-timed sale could result in a significant tax bill that could have otherwise been avoided. If the property has been your primary residence for less than 24 months, for example, you may decide to hold off until you’ve reached that threshold to avoid capital gains tax.”

If you sell a house or property in one year or less after owning it, the short-term capital gains is taxed as ordinary income, which could be as high as 37 percent. Long-term capital gains for properties you owned for over a year are taxed at 0 percent, 15 percent or 20 percent depending on your income tax bracket.

How much is capital gains tax on a rental property?

A rental property doesn’t have the same exclusions as a primary residence when it comes to capital gains taxes. You would have to pay a 25 percent depreciation recapture tax on the portion of your profit from previously claimed depreciation and 0, 15 or 20 percent in long-term capital gains taxes, depending on your income and filing status on the balance.

Suppose the property you bought for $250,000 and sold for $500,000 was a rental. If your profit included depreciation you claimed as a business expense, the IRS would levy a 25 percent depreciation recapture tax on that amount. Your profit balance would be taxed at a 0, 15 or 20 percent capital gains rate, depending on your income.

If you plan to sell a rental property you’ve owned for less than a year, try to stretch ownership out to at least 12 months, or your profit will be taxed as ordinary income. The IRS doesn’t have a ceiling for short-term capital gains taxes, and you may be hit with up to 37 percent tax.

How to avoid capital gains tax on a home sale

Capital gains taxes can greatly affect your bottom line. Fortunately, there are ways to reduce or avoid capital gains taxes on a home sale altogether. It depends on the property type and your filing status. The IRS offers a few scenarios to avoid capital gains taxes when selling your house.

Bankrate insight

When does capital gains tax not apply? If you have lived in a home as your primary residence for two out of the five years preceding the home’s sale, the IRS lets you exempt $250,000 in profit, or $500,000 if married and filing jointly, from capital gains taxes. The two years do not necessarily need to be consecutive. If you become disabled, receive a job offer in a new area or are forced to sell your home before you have lived there two years, you may qualify for an exception to the two-out-of-five rule.

Avoiding capital gains tax on your primary residence

You can sell your primary residence and avoid paying capital gains taxes on the first $250,000 of your profits if your tax-filing status is single, and up to $500,000 if married and filing jointly. The exemption is only available once every two years. But it can, in effect, render the capital gains tax moot.

Let’s say a single filer bought a home for $250,000, lived in it for three years, and then sold it for $400,000. Their profit is $150,000. But that’s exempt from any capital gains tax because it’s under the $250,000 threshold allowed for gains.

Of course, there are conditions. To qualify as your primary residence, the IRS requires that you prove the property was your main home where you lived most of the time. You’ll need to show that you owned the home for at least two years and lived in the property as your primary residence for at least two of the five years immediately preceding the sale.

However, there is wiggle room in how the rules are interpreted. You don’t have to show you lived in the home the entire time you owned it or even consecutively for two years. You could, for example, purchase the house, live in it for 12 months, rent it out for a few years and then move in to establish primary residency for another 12 months. As long as you lived in the property as your primary residence for 24 months within the five years before the home’s sale, you can qualify for the capital gains tax exemption. And if you’re married and filing jointly, only one spouse needs to meet this requirement.

Avoiding capital gains tax on a rental or additional property

If you own an additional property that you plan to sell, you will need to plan to lower your tax liability. There are several ways to mitigate any capital gains tax:

Establish the rental as primary residence

You might find that an investment property you rent out and plan to sell has spiked in value. Moving into the rental for at least two years to convert it into a primary residence to avoid capital gains may be a good idea. However, you won’t be able to exclude the portion you depreciated while renting the property. You’ll lose primary residency status on your main home, too, but that can be regained later by moving back in after the sale of the rental property. If you don’t plan to sell the main home for at least two years, you can re-establish primary residency and qualify for the capital gains exclusion later.

1031 exchange

You can also take advantage of a 1031 exchange. Known as a like-kind exchange, it only works if you sell the investment property and use the proceeds to buy another similar property. If you keep putting the sale proceeds into another investment property, you can put off capital gains tax indefinitely.

Opportunity zones

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created opportunity zones — areas around the country identified as economically disadvantaged. If you choose to invest in a designated low-income community, you’ll get a step up in tax basis (your original cost) after the first five years. And any gains after 10 years will be tax-free.

Deduct expenses

If you still have capital gains after taking advantage of exemptions and exclusions, focus on lowering the amount of the taxable profit or gains. Some qualifying deductions include:

The cost of repairs to a home or investment property
Improvements and upgrades, such as adding a bedroom or renovating a kitchen

Losses in investment property income due to tenants unable to pay rent
Cost of legal, professional and advertising fees to evict a tenant or find a new one

Closing costs from the property sale

Remember to keep organized records and documents, including receipts, bills, invoices and credit card statements, to support your expense claims in case you’re audited.

FAQs

How much is capital gains tax on real estate?


The capital gains tax rate on the sale of a primary residence can be as high as 20 percent of the profit on a home owned for more than a year, and as high as 37 percent on one owned for a year or less. If you own and live in the home for two out of the five years before the sale, you will likely be exempt from any capital gains taxes up to $250,000 in profit, or $500,000 if married and filing jointly.

Is there a way to avoid capital gains tax on the selling of a house?


You will avoid capital gains tax if your profit on the sale is less than $250,000 (for single filers) or $500,000 (if you’re married and filing jointly), provided it has been your primary residence for at least two of the past five years. For investment properties, capital gains taxes can be deferred with a Section 1031 like-kind exchange, in which you use the profit from the sale of one investment property to buy another of equal or greater value.



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Federal Tax Return Itemization and the Mortgage Interest Deduction

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Since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017, tax returns that itemize Schedule A deductions, such as the mortgage interest deduction (MID) , have fallen significantly with only 9.6% of all returns using an itemized deduction in tax year 2021. In 2017, the share of returns claiming an itemized deduction was 30.9%. Taxpayers who do not itemize their tax returns claim the standard deduction instead, and thus do not directly benefit from deductions such as the MID.

Looking across different adjusted gross income — or AGI, which is a measure of total income minus adjustments, such as deductions — levels , the prevalence of itemizing has fallen for all AGI levels. In 2017, five AGI levels had over half of tax returns claiming an itemized deduction. In contrast, in 2021 (the latest published IRS Statistics of Income data) only the two highest AGI levels had over half of returns claiming an itemize deduction.

The TCJA significantly increased the standard deduction and placed a limit of $10,000 on the state and local income tax (SALT) deduction . These two factors contributed to the trend of fewer itemized returns since 2017. Moreover, these changes explain why the use of the mortgage interest deduction has grown less progressive since 2017. Namely, the mortgage interest deduction can only be claimed through itemizing. So fewer itemizing taxpayers has led to fewer home owners utilizing the mortgage interest deduction, particularly at lower AGI levels.

Standard Deduction vs. Itemized Deduction

The total number of returns filed in 2021 was 159.5 million, while the number of returns with itemized deductions stood at just 14.8 million returns. These returns totaled an estimated $659.7 billion in itemized deductions. The total amount of the standard deduction claimed stood at an estimated $2.5 trillion in 2021 — well above the itemization amount, as significantly more taxpayers utilized the standard deduction.

Depicted in the graph above, there is a distinctive difference between the share of returns in a particular AGI level and its proportion of the total adjusted gross income. Levels below $100,000 constitute 77.2% of all returns, but only make up 30.9% of the total adjusted gross income. Levels above $100,000 constitute 22.8% of all returns while making up 69.1% of the total adjusted gross income.

Among returns that utilized the itemized deduction, most fell in the $100,000-$200,000 AGI class, with 30.4% claiming itemized returns. Despite this, the $1 million AGI level make up 29.6% of the total itemization deduction amount — the highest level of deduction amounts — but only constituted 4.1% of itemized returns.

In contrast to the itemized tax returns, most tax returns claiming the standard deductions were in the lower AGI range between $1-100,000 (75.3%). This AGI range also received the highest share of the total standard deduction amount (75.4%). The standard deduction return distribution follows more closely to that of all returns when compared to itemized returns as far fewer taxpayers utilize itemized deductions and those who do tend to be in higher income groups.

Mortgage Interest Deduction

After the passage of the 16th amendment, the first income tax code written by Congress allowed for the deduction of interest paid on many debts ranging from business to personal debts, including mortgages. The mortgage interest deduction notably expanded following World War II. Homeownership became an important wealth building tool for a vast majority of Americans during this period.

The current principal limit of the mortgage interest deduction stands at $750,000 ($375,000 if married filing separately), meaning taxpayers can deduct interest on the first $750,000 of debt secured by the taxpayer’s main home or second home . Interest on home equity loans and lines of credit are deductible only if the funds are used to buy, build or substantially improve a taxpayer’s home up to a $100,000 limit.

After the expiration of the 2017 tax rules in 2025, the mortgage interest deduction will return to prior law, in which the principal limit was $1 million, and home owners will be allowed to deduct interest on the first $100,000 of home equity debt regardless of the purpose of the debt. (However, AMT rules complicate this general rule somewhat.) It is important to note that the current principal limit is not indexed for inflation, which is a policy shortcoming given the post-COVID rise in home prices.

Among tax returns that were itemized in 2021, 11.5 million (76.6%) claimed the mortgage interest deduction. The total amount of mortgage interest deducted was $143.5 billion, which includes points. (If debt predates 2017, deduction is allowed for points) According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, total mortgage interest paid in 2021 — deducted and non-deducted together — was $458.2 billion , which amounts to around 31.3% of total mortgage interest payments claimed as a tax deduction in 2021.

Across income groups, the group with the highest mortgage interest deduction  amount was for incomes between $100,000-$200,000 at a 28.9% share of the total. The $200,000-$500,000 income group deducted the second largest share at 27.9%. Nonetheless, the vast majority (84.9%) of mortgage interest deducted was from itemizers with incomes under $500,000.

Given that it is much more likely for itemizers to be from higher income groups, specifically AGI levels greater than $500,000, it is perhaps surprising that most of the mortgage interest deduction claimed accrued to individuals making less than $500,000 as these taxpayers typically use itemized deductions less frequently.

Proposal to Expand the Mortgage Tax Benefit: A Tax Credit

In 2021, there were an estimated 83.4 million owner-occupied housing units with 51.1 million holding a mortgage. A housing tax credit would allow vastly more households to receive a tax benefit from owning a home than, as only approximately 11 million currently do by deducting mortgage interest on their tax returns.

With fewer taxpayers itemizing, what was once an effective and broadly claimed tax incentive no longer serves its original purpose to make homeownership more affordable for the middle-class. NAHB believes the mortgage interest deduction should be updated to reflect today’s tax code and better serve the segment of prospective home owners who face unprecedented affordability challenges. A well-structured housing tax incentive, such as a mortgage interest credit, would help achieve this policy goal.

NAHB supports converting the mortgage interest deduction into a targeted, ongoing homeownership tax credit, which could be claimed against mortgage interest and property taxes paid. A tax credit that is properly targeted would increase progressivity in the tax code and promote housing opportunity by providing a tax incentive more accessible to lower and middle-class households, as well minority and first-generation home buyers. Such a credit would provide a benefit to all home owners who pay mortgage interest and have income tax liability to offset. Such a proposal should be considered today and given serious consideration during the 2025 tax debate.

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