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A LANDSCAPER has revealed a crucial trick that could land homeowners thousands in savings.
While there are several new tax laws in place that can lead to extra cash pocketed, a vital energy-related credit was recently axed.
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On December 31, 2025, the Residential Clean Energy Credit was terminated.
This move came as part of new legislation detailed in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) from the Trump administration.
Before the OBBB was passed, the Inflation Reduction Act had extended the credit through 2032, per Solar Insure.
With it being taken away, this meant that any residential solar project Americans decided to undertake at home would no longer get a 30% tax break, which had previously saved households upwards of $10,000.
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Except, there’s still a workaround in 2026 to get the benefits.
While owner-installed systems lose the credit, those solar panels installed at home that are owned by companies through lease or purchase agreements can still get commercial tax credits.
The companies then pass on the savings to households.
With this avenue, the credit effectively still applies.
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Landscaper and environmentalist Nick Cutsumpas (@farmernick) revealed that he found the loophole worked in a recent post on Instagram.
Through a leasing program from Palmetto Solar, an energy company based out of South Carolina, Cutsumpas was able to go through this process and still effectively obtain the solar tax credit.
“Enter @palmetto.energy’s solar leasing program,” Cutsumpas wrote.
“As it turns out, commercial companies can still get the tax credit and pass the savings off to consumers in the form of a lease, and you don’t have to put any money down.”
“This was a huge win for us, not only because we use a lot of electricity with the AC and greenhouse heat pumps, but because energy prices are skyrocketing all over the country,” he continued.
It’s also important to note that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) still allows taxpayers to claim the Residential Clean Energy Credit on their 2025 returns if their system was installed before December 31, 2025.
A new study conducted by Talker Research has found a third of Americans plan out what to spend their tax refund on half of a year in advance.
The new poll of 2,000 U.S. taxpayers found 79% believe they’ll get some sort of refund this year, and many of them have already planned out what to spend it on.
A majority (52%) said their tax refund is an important part of their budgeting plans, and 77% plan to spend their refund on necessities. 
Chief among necessities were bills like rent (52%), groceries and essential items (44%) and credit card debt (37%). 
Over half (56%) of those spending their refund money on credit card debt are specifically targeting their holiday season purchases.
Meanwhile, 8% are planning to spend their refund on luxuries.
They’re spending their refund on new clothes (37%), entertainment (28%) and new phones (26%).
Commissioned by TaxSlayer and conducted by Talker Research, the study found the average person hopes to receive roughly $1,700 in tax refund money this year. 
A fifth (22%) believe they’ll end up with more money this year than last, while 26% believe the opposite. Half (51%) expect to receive about the same amount.
Last year, 12% said they got a larger-than-expected tax refund, while 20% recalled getting less than what they expected.
Many respondents expecting to receive more this year said it was due to withholding more money on their W-2, making more money in the past year and having a newborn.
And those expecting to receive less shared potential causes why: losing their job, owing back taxes, children aging into adulthood and increased tax rates.
Survery by Talker Research.
Additionally, the savings might not quite hit the $10,000 mark for some.
According to the Clean Air Council, most Americans who installed solar panels saved between $7,500 to $9,000 on installation costs in recent years as part of the credit.
Even so, that value is immense.
In 2023 alone, American families claimed more than $6 billion worth of clean energy credits overall, with solar being the most prominent investment, according to the Department of the Treasury.
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