Just Weeks Left to Grab These 4 ‘Green’ Tax Credits

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The recent Bipartisan Budget Act renewed some tax breaks that could help your bottom line this tax season.

The Internal Revenue Service has announced that it’s now ready to process 2017 tax returns — due on April 17 — with four newly extended “green” tax breaks. They are the credits for:

  • Residential energy claimed on Form 5695
  • Alternative motor vehicles claimed on Form 8910
  • Qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicles claimed on Form 8936
  • Certain two- or three-wheeled vehicles claimed on Form 8936

These tax breaks technically had expired after tax year 2016, meaning you could no longer claim them. But the Bipartisan Budget Act, signed into law in February, retroactively renewed them for tax year 2017. So, if you’re eligible for these credits, you can claim them this tax season — but not after that.

If you already filed your tax return this year, you still can claim these credits by filing an amended return — what the IRS calls Form 1040X.

Unlike regular tax returns, though, amended returns cannot be filed electronically. And the IRS says it can take up to 16 weeks for an amended return to be processed.

Still, the annoyance of having to file an amended return could be well worth it, since tax credits are the best kind of tax break. Check out “Pop Quiz: Is It Better to Have a Tax Credit or a Tax Deduction?“:

“A tax credit wins every time. The reason is simple. A tax deduction lowers your taxable income, while a tax credit lowers your tax bill dollar for dollar.”

For more news and tips for the current tax-filing season — including three popular tax breaks that were also recently extended for 2017 returns– check out our other 2018 tax stories.

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