On Feb. 17, 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). One of the primary goals of this legislation was to preserve and create jobs, and it included a special provision to aid the HVAC industry. Now that these tax credits have been available in our industry for over a year, we are in a position to analyze their impact.

As you’ve likely heard by now, the HVAC industry reached an agreement with energy-efficiency advocates on new federal minimum performance requirements. This agreement divides the United States into three regions. This is an enormous change for the HVACR industry, and it will have a significant effect on contractors.

While I think the new federal tax credit is being underutilized, I also feel it is a lot more complicated than what it has been portrayed in some articles. Here is my understanding of the tax credit as well as some of the pitfalls that contractors need to avoid.