tax credit question

[organic farmer]

I have one question that I didn't see answered anywhere. I understand all about the solar credit. One exceptions I was wondering if it is just the federal taxes paid that can be refunded or is social security and medicaid also? I don't make very much money and neither does my wife and we don't pay much in taxes and I had a 6.6 kw system installed leaving me with a $6600 credit that I most likely won't be able to fulfill just thru getting my federal taxes back, so I wasn't sure if it included any of the other taxes we pay. Obviously not the state taxes but I didn't know about the other stuff (i.e. Social security, medicaid or care, whichever is federal, ect....). The other part to my question is I recently heard that they pushed the solar rebate to 2019. Everyone was saying we could take the credit up until 2016 since it was pushed to 2016....does that mean now that it is pushed to 2019 I can take it for 2015 (installed yr) thru 2019? So claim partial credits over 4 yrs? Thx for your help!!! sorry to revive the old thread

What you pay into your SS policy has no bearing on any other federal program. Some people do not have a SS policy and others have revoked their former SS policies. Having a SS policy is entirely up to each individual, as it is completely voluntary.

The Tax Credit only applies to your Federal Income Taxes, again assuming that a person pays Income Taxes. you may be able to claim part of the $6600 for 2015 and the rest in 2016.

We have not used any of the Tax Credit ourselves. Instead we used the expense as a tax write-off, which can be spread out over multiple years.

[foo1bar]

Having a SS policy is entirely up to each individual, as it is completely voluntary.

SS (aka FICA - Federal Insurance Contributions Act) is not voluntary.
Anyone who says it is voluntary just doesn't know what they're talking about - so I would not rely on anything else said by organic farmer w.r.t. taxes.

There have been other posts pointing out which line the credit applies to on form 1040 - I believe those are correct - you can pull out your 2014 tax forms from the file cabinet and look at them to get an idea of how much taxes you paid in that year. Or if you've finished your 2015 taxes, look at those. For most people they have similar taxes from one year to the next - so for most people looking at previous year tax forms is good reference for the current year. If you are someone who isn't similar from one year to the next, you probably already know that and can make your own judgement on how to adjust.

[organic farmer]

As a feature of my job, I have assisted many people to opt-out / revoke their SS policies.

I have also worked alongside a number of Us service members whose families had never applied for a SS policy when they were children. As US Service members they had no SS policies.

Please, please do not put out such bad information.

[inetdog]

If you are being paid income by a company which files federal taxes rather than being paid in a plain white envelope, they are required by law to withhold SS contributions and pay their matching share UNLESS you have done the right paperwork to show that you have made an intelligent decision to use some other system.
Avoiding SS deductions while working has the logical corollary that you will not have an income history to justify collecting SS payments in your old age.
Some specific employer plans such as railroad and teacher retirement systems are approved in advance by the Feds and you do not have to do any special paperwork if you have that kind of employer. (Can you choose to opt out of those systems and get the lower SS payments instead? I do not know.)

[foo1bar]

I have also worked alongside a number of Us service members whose families had never applied for a SS policy when they were children. As US Service members they had no SS policies.

Please, please do not put out such bad information.

There are exceptions for clergy and other specific cases where you don't participate in SS.

But current US Service members pay into Social Security and will receive benefits - https://socialsecurity.gov/pubs/EN-05-10017.pdf
And the vast majority of people are required to pay FICA taxes.

As a feature of my job, I have assisted many people to opt-out / revoke their SS policies.

And what form did you use to do that?
And on what basis were they able to do that?
It is possible if they were clergy or non-resident aliens on F/M/J visas and didn't file the right form that they may have been paying by mistake. Or if they were certain state's employees.
However that does not mean that FICA taxes are voluntary, as those are the exceptions and not the rule.

Just some of many places you can read about the few exceptions to the FICA tax:

http://classroom.synonym.com/social-security-voluntary-mandatory-13978.html

https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/International-Taxpayers/Social-Security-Tax---Medicare-Tax-and-Self-Employment

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/krantz/2011-04-27-opting-out-of-social-security_n.htm

"Since July 2, 1991, most State and local government employees, who are not covered under a qualifying public retirement system or a Section 218 Agreement, must be covered under Social Security." - https://www.socialsecurity.gov/slge/faqs.htm#&a0=12 (emphasis mine)

There are some web pages that say it is voluntary - but from what I can tell it's based on a theory of their own making. I certainly wouldn't want to be on their side in tax court as it looks about the same as the "income tax is voluntary" arguments. (And we know those don't fly)

[organic farmer]

If you are being paid income by a company which files federal taxes rather than being paid in a plain white envelope, they are required by law to withhold SS contributions and pay their matching share UNLESS you have done the right paperwork to show that you have made an intelligent decision to use some other system.

Yes, You and I agree.

... Avoiding SS deductions while working has the logical corollary that you will not have an income history to justify collecting SS payments in your old age

That is a reasonable argument.

... Some specific employer plans such as railroad and teacher retirement systems are approved in advance by the Feds and you do not have to do any special paperwork if you have that kind of employer. (Can you choose to opt out of those systems and get the lower SS payments instead? I do not know.)

Also most cities fit into this.

Also there are a dozen religions that you may join, that automatically opt you out from SS.

Also there are parts of the USA where SS has never became popular. [Think of the US territories, like PI, Guam, Samoa, etc] Nobody there signs their children up, so they can decide as they become adults. Some of those adults join the military, where I served with them. They never really thought about joining SS. It is not a part of their culture. Though as US citizens they can if they want to.

[organic farmer]

... the vast majority of people are required to pay FICA taxes.

You are only 'required' IF you applied for a SS policy in your name somewhere in your history.