The legislation limits allowable tax credits available for energy-efficient windows installed during 2011 to a total of just $200 — down from the previous $1,500

Today is the last day to take advantage of the ‘green’ credit incentives from the federal government.  Miss the deadline? The good news is that there are now new incentives. The bad news is that those incentives are roughly 1/3 of the 2010 incentives….

The $858 billion federal tax bill signed into law by President Obama on Dec. 17 was a mixed bag for American homeowners, with elements of both the Grinch and Santa squeezed into the same bulging package.

The goodies for select groups were well-publicized — an extension of unemployment benefits, payroll tax cuts, continuation of the Bush income-tax rates and favorable estate-tax treatment for the wealthy.

But other provisions in the bill could be bad news for homeowners interested in remodeling projects to conserve energy next year. The legislation slashed the popular tax credits for energy-efficient remodeling from the current 30 percent of an improvement’s cost ($1,500 maximum per taxpayer) to just a 10 percent credit with a $500 maximum.

The bill also clamped new dollar-specific limits on key improvements that previously had been eligible for 30 percent credits. These include a $150 tax-credit limit on the costs of energy-efficient furnaces, plus a $300 credit limit on the costs of central air conditioning systems.

The legislation also limits allowable tax credits available for energy-efficient windows installed during 2011 to a total of just $200 — down from the previous $1,500. On top of this, more here….

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Kenneth R. Harney who covers housing issues on Capitol Hill for the Washington Post Writers Group and appears in the Sunday Columbus Dispatch.

it prohibits taxpayers who have taken tax credits in past years exceeding $500 from claiming any additional credits on energy-conservation projects they undertake in the coming year.

The net effect of all this, say homebuilding and remodeling experts, will be to severely diminish consumers’ interest in energy-efficient home improvements.

The Alliance To Save Energy, a Washington coalition of business, government, environmental and consumer groups that lobbied unsuccessfully for retention of the credits as they were, said the forthcoming cutbacks in the homeowner credit program will be a loss felt far beyond the remodeling industry.

And the outlook for restoration of the credits in the new Congress isn’t good. There’s virtually no chance of another big tax bill supporting energy-efficiency improvements moving ahead on Capitol Hill in the near future.