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Step 1
Review improvements to your main home that you made during the year to see if any of them qualify for the energy property credit. These must be new and meet certain criteria for energy efficiency and your home must be located in the United States.
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Step 2
Access Form 5695 from the IRS website. Review the categories such as the installation of insulation in walls and ceilings, exterior doors and windows, or systems to reduce heat gain or loss from your home. Note the limitation for some categories.
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Step 3
Determine what the total investment was in each category and enter the amounts, subject to the limitations, on the applicable lines of Form 5695.
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Step 4
Check if you added any of the following items to your home which also can qualify for credit if they meet certain standards of performance: electric heat and water pumps, geothermal pumps, central air conditioning, gas, oil, or propane water heaters, qualified furnaces and main circulating fans used in a furnace. If you have purchased any of this equipment, add them to Form 5695 on the appropriate lines.
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Step 5
Take the residential energy efficient property credit for any qualified solar water heating, photovoltaic or fuel cell equipment installed in your home on Page 2 of Form 5695. Limit the amounts to those shown for each category.
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Step 6
File a claim for refund on Form 1140X for any qualified years that you discover had allowable energy property, but the credit was not claimed on the original tax return when filed.
