Do you know if there's an income limit for claiming these energy credits? I heard somewhere that if you make over a certain amount you don't qualify for them.

There aren't income limits for the basic Residential Clean Energy Credit (Part I of Form 5695) which covers things like solar panels and geothermal heat pumps. You get 30% of the cost back as a credit regardless of income. For the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Credit (Part II of Form 5695) which would cover things like insulation, windows, doors, and potentially some electrical work, there also aren't income limits currently. However, there are maximum credit amounts depending on the type of improvement. For example, there's a $600 limit for certain high-efficiency exterior windows and a $500 limit for certain exterior doors.

You'll definitely need at least Deluxe for any home improvement related stuff. The basic version really only handles W-2 income and simple returns. I'd actually recommend Premier if you're dealing with selling property or rental income.

That used to be the case years ago, but the rules have changed. Under the current IRS Publication 970 Section 10 guidelines, graduate-level education is treated the same as undergraduate education for employer-provided educational assistance purposes. The $5,250 annual exclusion applies to both. Your employer might be operating on outdated information. Prior to changes in the tax law, graduate education had different rules, but that's no longer the case. The key factor now isn't the level of education but whether the educational program meets the other requirements and whether your employer has a properly established educational assistance program.

Thank you so much for clarifying! I'm going to show this to our HR department. They're a small company and probably haven't updated their policies in a while. I was really hoping to use the benefit for my MBA courses, so this is great news. Do you know if there are any special forms or documentation I should be keeping for tax purposes when using this benefit for graduate education? I want to make sure everything is properly documented.

Thanks for mentioning this! My company is fairly small (about 50 employees) and I'm not sure they have all this documentation in place. Is there a template or example of what this written plan should look like? I'd like to bring this up to our HR person but want to be helpful rather than just pointing out a problem.

Have you actually managed to get through to the IRS this way recently? I tried calling that number three times last week and couldn't get past the automated system - it just disconnected me after saying they had too many calls.

I've gotten through in the past, but you're right that it's extremely difficult during peak tax season. Your best chance is to call right when they open (7am EST) and be prepared to navigate through several automated menus. Choose the option for "having a problem with your taxes" rather than "need forms" to increase your chances of reaching a person. I should have mentioned that this approach requires a lot of patience and might take multiple attempts. If time is crucial, some of the other options people have suggested might be faster.

The SSA site only shows your lifetime earnings record, not current year W2 details. That won't help with filing taxes for this year. You need the actual W2 or the IRS wage transcript.

So does that mean if I can't resolve the "potential deficiency" with documentation, my case will end up on a docket record too? At what point does it move from administrative to legal proceedings?

The progression typically works like this: First you get the initial inquiry (CP2000 or similar), then if unresolved, you receive a Statutory Notice of Deficiency (90-day letter). Only after receiving that 90-day letter and then filing a petition with the Tax Court would your case appear on a docket. You have significant opportunities to resolve the issue before reaching the Tax Court stage. Many deficiency issues are resolved during the correspondence audit phase or through the IRS Appeals office. Tax Court is usually the last resort when you and the IRS fundamentally disagree about your tax liability and can't reach a settlement.

You can create an account on the IRS website (irs.gov) and view your tax account transcript. It'll show any assessments, payments, and adjustments to your account. I check mine regularly since I had an issue a couple years ago.

Do you know if there are any major changes to the 2023 version? I heard something about some states changing their credit reduction status but wasn't sure if that would affect the actual form layout.

Based on the draft version, the core form layout is practically identical to 2022. The main differences are in Schedule A where they updated which states have FUTA credit reductions. California has been added to the reduction list this year, and I believe Connecticut's reduction percentage has changed. If you don't have employees in those states, the form will be essentially the same as last year for you.

I switched from QuickBooks to Gusto last year and they're much faster with form updates. Their payroll system automatically calculates your FUTA liability throughout the year and they usually have the new forms implemented within days of IRS releases. Little more expensive but worth it for the peace of mind.