An Interesting Note Regarding the 2009-2010 Energy Tax Credit

Back in 2009-2010 the IRS offered a sizable tax credit for purchasing energy efficient appliances including outdoor wood furnaces. This was known as the Biomass Heater Tax Credit. Hawken Energy received countless calls asking if we qualified for the tax credit which required a provable 75% efficiency.

Getting a qualified efficiency rating is no easy task. A laboratory has to do the testing and this can run thousands of dollars with no guarantee of qualifying. Our in-house tests showed that the HE units that we were building at the time came close, but not close enough for us to feel confident that we would qualify for the tax credit. For anyone who called, this is what we told them.

At that time there were very few outdoor wood furnaces that did qualify and the difference in the cost was far greater than the tax credit would cover. Read our post on this topic by clicking here. http://blog.hawkenenergy.com/2009/12/2009-2010-biomass-heater-tax-credit-and.html 

Some of our competitors were not so honest. One of the biggest headaches we experienced during this time came from explaining to customers and representatives that some companies are willing to risk heavy penalties, or perhaps they didn't understand the risk, and state that their outdoor furnaces were qualified when, in fact, they were not.

This information was found a couple of weeks ago while doing some research for another project. http://www.irs.gov/irb/2011-48_IRB/ar16.html In short, this bulletin states that one of those companies claiming to qualify for the tax credit is not actually qualified. "Specifically, the [IRS] found that the Furnace failed to meet the efficiency ratings of at least 75%..."

This withdrawal comes a little late as the tax credit expired at the end of 2011 but it's still nice to see that our insistence that these competitors did not qualify and were misleading customers has been justified.

Just as a point of interest, this manufacturer may now be subject to penalties from the IRS.

Whether or not the IRS or The President will renew the tax credit, or issue a new one, has yet to be seen. If a new tax credit does become available Hawken Energy will have a qualifying option in the GX10, and later this year, the GX20.

For more information about Hawken Energy or any of our outdoor wood furnaces contact us at 888-564-2876, visit www.HawkenEnergy.com or email us at info@hawkenenergy.com 

Posted by Don Squire - Hawken Energy Outdoor Wood Furnaces