Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Solar and tax breaks

[Bob Leigh (bobleigh]

In 2015, we installed solar panels but asked all households to claim the tax 
credit on their own taxes then pay that amount to the community afterwards.  
The only hassle was reminding folks to do that repayment.

I can find out more if needed.

Bob Leigh
Cornerstone Village Cohousing
Cambridge MA

On Fri, Apr 17, 2026, at 12:08 PM, Sharon Villines via Cohousing-L wrote:
>> On Apr 17, 2026, at 11:14 AM, Philip Semanchuk <philip [at] semanchuk.com> 
>> wrote:
>
>> Under this scheme, our HOA is a for-profit entity, and we are eligible for 
>> the tax credits. However, our income is nominal, so we pay less than $100 in 
>> tax each year. As a result, the tax credit is basically meaningless to us. 
>> If for example we got an $8k tax credit and paid $100 a year in tax, it 
>> would take 80 years to enjoy the full benefit of the tax credit. 
>
> I think there is a misapprehension about non-profits receiving huge tax 
> benefits. Tax benefits are related to income. This is a good example 
> from Pacifica cohousing. They only pay $100 a year in taxes. To lower 
> the tax by $100 would require a lot of work on the part of the finance 
> team, their lawyer, or an accountant. It woud cost more than $100 every 
> year to do that.
>
> An HOA really doesn’t have income. Every penny should be going to 
> benefit the homeowners in the form of reserves for future expenses, 
> maintenance, operations, etc. It isn’t the goal of a cohousing 
> condominium to make a profit. The tax law is more relevant to a 
> commercial condo which could want to make a profit. Paying taxes is 
> good because it means you had income.
>
> The first lawyer for Takoma Village asked us a question that is 
> pertinent. We were talking about developing the workshop so 
> non-residents could be affiliate members who used the workshop. We 
> would be sharing with neighbors and also be able to justify having more 
> expensive equipment. 
>
> She ask, "Well, what kind of organization would you be? Legally you are 
> a condominium. Condominiums don’t normally have extra members who only 
> use one facility and condominiums are not involved with providing 
> services to the neighborhood.”
>
> Having to define ourselves legally, under the statutes of DC, made us 
> step back and think about not only the tax issues but the insurance 
> issues and how we would decide who could be an affiliate member. None 
> of those questions were ever resolved. And we got busy with all the 
> other millions of things that had be be decided.
>
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Riderwood Village, Silver Spring MD
> Founding member and 25 year resident in Takoma Village, Washington DC
>
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