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Changeouts & Stove Tax Credits

Tax Credits:

HPBA Tax credit website page: click here 

30% Biomass Stove Tax Credit - Enacted for appliances installed between Jan 1, 2023 to Dec 1, 2032! 

With the August 16, 2022, signing of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), high-efficiency biomass heating products once again qualify for a tax credit under Section 25(C) of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC” or “tax code”). This new 30 percent tax credit – capped at $2,000 annually – is available for appliances installed between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2032. The credit can be used on the purchase and installation costs of qualifying appliances. To be eligible for the tax credit, an appliance must have a thermal efficiency of at least 75 percent per the higher heating value (HHV) of the fuel.

Beginning in 2023, consumers buying highly efficient wood or pellet stoves or larger residential biomass heating systems may be eligible to claim a 30% tax credit – capped at $2,000 annually – based on the full cost (purchase and installation) of the unit. The credit runs through December 31, 2032. The 10-year term and 30 percent credit have been big components of HPBA’s advocacy push of the Biomass Thermal Utilization (BTU) Act over many years.

Feel free to contact Ryan Carroll (Carroll@hpba.org) with any questions that are not answered by our website.

What is this new tax credit?

  • Effective Dates: The new tax credit under Sec. 25(C) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (“IRC” or “tax code”) is effect on January 1, 2023 for qualifying purchases and installations completed on or after that date, through December 31, 2032.
  • Credit Amount: Creates a new tax credit of 30 percent of the purchase and installation costs (with a $2,000 annual cap with no lifetime limit) for tax years 2023 through 2032.
  • Qualifying Products: Qualifying products (any biomass-fueled heater) must have a thermal efficiency of at least 75 percent per the higher heating value (HHV) of the fuel
    • The EPA certified wood heater database may be referenced (not all products on the EPA list qualify. Look for products with efficiencies of at least 75 percent)
    • A manufacturer certification statement attesting that a product qualifies can also be relied upon

See our new FAQs about this new tax credit for additional information.

  • Qualifying Products: Require qualifying products (any biomass-fueled heater) be at least 75 percent efficient per the higher heating value (HHV) of the fuel

What happens to the 25(C) tax credit?

  • Eliminates the tax credit for biomass stoves under IRC Sec. 25(C) starting in 2021 and enacts this provision in its place
  • Any product purchased in 2020 that qualifies for the new Sec. 25(D) credit, but isn't installed until 2021, can be claimed under the Sec. 25(D) credit on a 2021 tax return. Products must be claimed on the tax return year in which the product installation is complete. 

See our new FAQs about this new tax credit for additional information.

Download the consumer one-pager here

The Sec. 25(C) Tax Credit for Biomass Stoves (2020)

The Sec. 25(C) biomass stove tax credit expired after December 31, 2020. The credit must be claimed in the year in which product installation was completed.

With this credit having expired, 2020 is the last year the biomass stove tax credit of $300 can be claimed on a tax return. Download the consumer one-pager here

Changeouts by State:

Maine:

Regulations

No state-wide regulations on wood or pellet stoves that we are aware of at the moment. Check with your local authority on building codes to be sure.

Incentives:

  • Financial Incentive: Rebate
  • Type: Residential
  • For: Installing biomass boilers and furnaces
  • Incentive Amount: ⅓ of the project, up to a $6,000 rebate

Summary:  Maine offers a rebate of 1/3 of project costs up to $6,000 to install an advanced wood or pellet boiler. Eligible units must be on Efficiency Maine’s list of rebate-eligible biomass boilers and furnaces. Stoves: The Maine stove incentive program run by Efficiency Maine ended in December of 2018. The program provided a $500 rebate for pellet and wood stoves that were 75% efficiency or higher, but the efficiency had to be listed on the EPA list of certified stoves. In 2017, the program only provided 100 rebates but due to more aggressive outreach, they provided 700 rebates in the first half of 2018. Of those, two thirds of the rebates went to pellet stoves. If you believe this was an important program, please contact Efficiency Maine to encourage them to reinstate it.

Contact Information:

  • Efficiency Maine
  • 168 Capitol Street Suite 1
  • Augusta, ME 04330-6856
  • Phone: 866-376-2463
  • Email: info@efficiencymaine.com 
  • Link:https://www.efficiencymaine.com/at-home/biomass-boilers-furnaces/

Updated: February 2024

Change-out Programs

Wood Stove Change-Out Program | Cumberland County 

  • Website: https://www.lung.org/media/press-releases/woodstove-changeout-maine
  • Status: Inactive as of November 2023
  • Program Boundary Area: Cumberland County
  • Eligible fuels: Wood (uncertified) or hydronic heater -> wood (certified), pellet, gas, heat pump
  • Notable feature: Once applicants receive their voucher, they will have 30 days to enter into a purchase agreement with a participating retailer

Incentive Amounts

Vouchers are available based on the change-out criteria from $1,000 to $5,000. “$1,000 vouchers are offered for a new EPA certified woodstove, $1,500 if changing from a hydronic heater to an EPA certified woodstove; $2,000 for an EPA certified pellet, gas stoves or heat pump, if changing from woodstove or hydronic heater and $3,000 for income qualified participants (income qualified vouchers may use the voucher for EPA certified wood, pellet, gas stoves or heat pump). A $4,000 voucher is available toward the replacement of an old hydronic heater with a new EPA Phase II hydronic heater or ENERGY STAR gas furnace or $5,000 for hydronic heater replacement if income qualified; $300 for the retrofit of an existing wood stove with a new catalyst.” Source.

Program Duration

The program is ongoing until funds are depleted. 

Procedure

Applicants can apply for a voucher online or in-stores. Upon receiving their allotted voucher, the applicant has 30 days to establish a purchase agreement with a participating retailer. The retailer is responsible for installation and recycling and disabling the old stove.

RequirementsParticipants must be a resident and homeowner in Cumberland County, Maine. They must be currently using a non-EPA certified wood stove and trade it in for either an EPA certified wood stove or catalyst for a new EPA certified wood, pellet, gas stove or heat pump. Please review additional participant information here.

More Information

Please visit the program website or the applicant fact sheet or contact Jennifer Solomon at (516) 680-8927 or jennifer.solomon@lung.org for more information.

Massachusetts:

Regulations, Incentives, Changeouts

No state-wide Regulations, Incentives, Changeouts on wood or pellet stoves that we are aware of at the moment. Check with your local authority on building codes to be sure.

New Hampshire:

Regulations, Incentives, Changeouts

No state-wide Regulations, Incentives, Changeouts on wood or pellet stoves that we are aware of at the moment. Check with your local authority on building codes to be sure.

Vermont:

Regulations

No state-wide Regulations on wood or pellet stoves that we are aware of at the moment. Check with your local authority on building codes to be sure.

Incentives

  • Financial Incentive: Rebate, Tax credit
  • Type: Residential, Commercial
  • For: Advanced wood heating, Pellet and wood stoves 
  • Incentive Amount: $3,000 rebate, $400 instant rebate

Summary:  The Advanced Wood Heat incentive is available for efficient central wood pellet heating systems. For systems installed in homes and small commercial spaces (<5,000 sq ft heated space): 

A $3,000 discount will be applied to the cost of the your system when you work with an Efficiency Excellence Network contractor.

Projects are also eligible for a $3,000 rebate from Efficiency Vermont.

For wood and pellet stoves, there is a $400 instant rebate at participating retailers. 

Link(s): https://www.rerc-vt.org/advanced-wood-heating-systems / https://www.efficiencyvermont.com/rebates/list/wood-stoves#:~:text=Get%20a%20%24400%20instant%20discount,(s)%20available%20Learn%20more.

Updated: February 2024

Change-out Programs

Residential Woodstove Change-out (WSCO) & Repair Program | Vermont

Website: https://www.rerc-vt.org/Media/Default/docs/ssreip-wood-2023-arpa-wsco-tcr-and-participation-agreement.pdf

Status: Active as of October 2023

Program Boundary Area: State-wide

Eligible fuels: Wood (uncertified) -> wood (certified), pellet (certified)

Notable Feature: There is a low income incentive enhancer. 

Incentive Amounts

For stove change-out the incentive will be set at a dollar amount calculated at 80% of cost for low-income and 60% for moderate income, subject to the following limits: the maximum incentive amount per household is $6000 for a new stove and a maximum incentive of $10,000 for a new stove plus repairs. For repairs of EPA certified stoves newer than 20 years old the incentive will be set at a dollar amount calculated at 80% of cost for low-income and 60% for moderate income, subject to the following limits: the maximum incentive amount per household is $4,000 for repairs to EPA-certified stoves newer than 20 years old.  

Program Duration

The program is ongoing until funds are depleted. 

Procedure

The stove retailer must completely fill out the Incentive Voucher Application form and submit it to the State c/o RERC to be eligible to receive the incentive payment from the State/CEDF. Completion of the Incentive Voucher form includes invoices and photo documentation of each old stove and newly installed stove.

Requirements

New stove and its installation must meet Vermont’s current Fire & Building Safety Codes. Old stoves must be properly disposed of by the Stove retailer at a material recycling facility.

For more information, please email info@rerc-vt.org.  

New York State:

Regulations

No state-wide regulations on wood or pellet stoves that we are aware of at the moment. Check with your local authority on building codes to be sure.

Incentives

  • Financial Incentive: Sales tax and use tax exemption
  • Type: Residential
  • For: Wood (including wood pellets and other compressed wood products) used for heating purposes only
  • Incentive Amount: 100%Summary: Sales and uses of [wood] to be used for residential purposes are exempt from the 4% state sales and use taxes and the ⅜% sales and use taxes imposed in the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District (MCTD).  
  • Link(s):https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/tg_bulletins/st/residential_energy.htm



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