You may be able to take this credit if you place a qualified fuel cell vehicle in service in 2011. The credit is also allowed for the cost of converting a vehicle to a qualified plug-in electric drive vehicle.

The credit has expired for advanced lean burn technology vehicles, qualified hybrid vehicles, and qualified alternative fuel vehicles purchased after 2010. You cannot claim the credit on your 2011 return for these vehicles. However, you may be able to claim the credit for one of these vehicles purchased in 2010 but not placed in service until 2011.

You may be able to take a credit if you place qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling property in service in 2011.

Tax credit bonds are bonds in which the holder receives a tax credit in lieu of some or all of the interest on the bond.

You may be able to take a credit if you are a holder of one of the following bonds.

In some instances, an issuer may elect to receive a credit for interest paid on the bond. If the issuer makes this election, you cannot also claim a credit.

You generally can choose to take income taxes you paid or accrued during the year to a foreign country or U.S. possession as a credit against your U.S. income tax. Or, you can deduct them as an itemized deduction (see chapter 22).

You cannot take a credit (or deduction) for foreign income taxes paid on income that you exclude from U.S. tax under any of the following.

The mortgage interest credit is intended to help lower-income individuals own a home. If you qualify, you can take the credit each year for part of the home mortgage interest you pay.

The tax laws give special treatment to some kinds of income and allow special deductions and credits for some kinds of expenses. If you benefit from these laws, you may have to pay at least a minimum amount of tax in addition to any other tax on these items. This is called the alternative minimum tax.

The special treatment of some items of income and expenses only allows you to postpone paying tax until a later year. If in prior years you paid alternative minimum tax because of these tax postponement items, you may be able to take a credit for prior year minimum tax against your current year's regular tax.

You may be able to take a credit against your regular tax if for 2010 you had:

You may be able to take this credit if you placed in service for business or personal use a qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle in 2011.

Generally, you can rely on the manufacturer's certification that a vehicle qualifies for the credit. In the case of a foreign manufacturer, you generally can rely on its domestic distributor's certification.

You may be able to take this credit if you acquired a qualified plug-in electric vehicle in 2011. For this credit, the vehicle can have 2, 3, or 4 wheels. A vehicle with 4 wheels must be a low speed vehicle.

Generally, you can rely on the manufacturer's certification that a vehicle qualifies for the credit. In the case of a foreign manufacturer, you generally can rely on its domestic distributor's certification.

You may be able to take one or both of the following credits if you made energy saving improvements to your home located in the United States in 2011.

If you are a member of a condominium management association for a condominium you own or a tenant-stockholder in a cooperative housing corporation, you are treated as having paid your proportionate share of any costs of the association or corporation for purposes of these credits.

Nonbusiness energy property credit.   You may be able to take a credit equal to the sum of:

1. 10% of the amount paid or incurred for qualified energy efficiency improvements installed during 2011, and

2. Any residential energy property costs paid or incurred in 2011.

  There is a lifetime limit of $500 for all years after 2005, of which only $200 can be for windows; $50 for any advanced main air circulating fan; $150 for any qualified natural gas, propane, or oil furnace or hot water boiler; and $300 for any item of energy efficient building property.

  

If the total of nonbusiness energy property credits you have taken in previous years (after 2005) is more than $500, you cannot take this credit in 2011.

Qualified energy efficiency improvements are the following improvements that are new, can be expected to remain in use at least 5 years, and meet certain requirements for energy efficiency.

Residential energy property is any of the following.

You may be able to take this credit if you, or your spouse if filing jointly, made:

However, you cannot take the credit if either of the following applies.

You may be able to take a tax credit of up to $13,360 for qualified expenses paid to adopt an eligible child. The credit may be allowed for the adoption of a child with special needs even if you do not have any qualified expenses.

If your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) is more than $185,210, your credit is reduced. If your modified AGI is $225,210 or more, you cannot take the credit.

You must include in your income any amounts that regulated investment companies (commonly called mutual funds) or real estate investment trusts (REITs) allocated to you as capital gain distributions, even if you did not actually receive them. If the mutual fund or REIT paid a tax on the capital gain, you are allowed a credit for the tax since it is considered paid by you. The mutual fund or REIT will send you Form 2439 showing your share of the undistributed capital gains and the tax paid, if any. Take the credit for the tax paid by entering the amount on Form 1040, line 71, and checking box a. Attach Copy B of Form 2439 to your return.

For most people, this credit is not available for homes purchased in 2011. Members of the uniformed services or Foreign Service and employees of the intelligence community may still be able to claim the credit.

In general, you can claim the credit only if you meet all three of the following requirements.

You may be able to take this credit for any month in which all the following statements were true on the first day of the month.

But, you cannot take the credit if you can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's 2011 tax return. If you meet all of these conditions, you may be able to claim the tax credit for amounts you paid directly to a qualified health plan for you and any qualifying family members. The tax credit is 80% for payments made in January and February; the tax credit is 72.5% for payments made in March through December. You cannot take the credit for insurance premiums on coverage that was actually paid for with a National Emergency Grant. The amount you paid for qualified health insurance coverage must be reduced by any Archer MSA and health savings account distributions used to pay for the coverage.

You can take this credit on your tax return or have it paid on your behalf in advance to your insurance company. If the credit is paid on your behalf in advance, that amount will reduce the amount of the credit you can take on your tax return.

If you paid the alternative minimum tax for 2010 or you had a minimum tax credit carryforward to 2011, you may be able to take a credit for prior year minimum tax. For information about the nonrefundable credit for prior year minimum tax you may be able to take, see Nonrefundable Credit for Prior Year Minimum Tax , earlier. However, for 2011, you may qualify for a refundable credit for prior year minimum tax if you had a minimum tax credit carryforward to 2009 (on your 2008 Form 8801, line 31) and you have not used all of that carryforward, even if the total amount of your current year credit is more than your total tax liability. To figure the amount of any 2011 refundable credit, complete Part IV of Form 8801. Include any refundable credit on Form 1040, line 71, and check box c.

Most employers must withhold social security tax from your wages. If you work for a railroad employer, that employer must withhold tier 1 railroad retirement (RRTA) tax and tier 2 RRTA tax.

If you worked for two or more employers in 2011, you may have had too much social security or tier 1 RRTA tax withheld from your pay. You can claim the excess social security or tier 1 RRTA tax as a credit against your income tax. The following table shows the maximum amount of wages subject to tax and the maximum amount of tax that should have been withheld for 2011.