Skip to main content
Data Integrity

Sources & Methodology

An inside look at how we gather, process, and present our educational tax credit estimates.

Our Primary Sources

Because tax legislation is complex, we rely exclusively on primary government data and verified non-profit public databases. Our main sources include:

  • Internal Revenue Service (IRS): We study the official instructions for Form 8911, the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 30C, and official Treasury/IRS Fact Sheets.
  • Department of Energy (DOE) & Argonne National Laboratory: We refer users to the official 30C mapping tool developed by the DOE and Argonne to determine qualifying non-urban and low-income census tracts.
  • Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC): We utilize the AFDC state laws and incentives database to inform our state-by-state guides.

Calculator Methodology

Our 30C credit calculator is built using the standard mathematical formulas prescribed by the IRS for residential installations:

  1. We take the user-provided hardware cost and installation cost and sum them to determine the total Cost Basis.
  2. We apply the statutory rate of 30% to this Cost Basis.
  3. We enforce the statutory residential cap of $1,000. If the 30% calculation exceeds $1,000, our calculator caps the estimated credit at exactly $1,000.

Disclaimer: This calculation assumes the user lives in an eligible census tract and has sufficient tax liability to claim the non-refundable credit. It does not account for business installations, which are subject to different rates and depreciation rules.

Eligibility Checker Methodology

Our eligibility checker functions as a guided decision tree based on the statutory requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act. It checks for:

  • Location: Confirms the installation is at the taxpayer's primary U.S. residence.
  • Timeline: Confirms the hardware was placed in service before the current legislative deadline (June 30, 2026).
  • Use case: Differentiates between residential (personal) and commercial use.
  • Tract Verification: Directs the user to verify their census tract via the official Argonne tool.

Our tool operates entirely in your browser using JavaScript. We do not store, transmit, or record any of the answers you provide in the checker.