I am in a rental house that my mother-in-law owns. We want to get solar but we want to make sure we get all the tax credits we can. Federal ITC is 30% and the State of Utah is $2000. Unfortunately, I am not the property owner and the M-I-L does not live in the house (that is fortunate...). A representative from the solar company we are looking at had previous experience in financial planning and was a CPA. He suggested something with sounds like it would work, but may be ethically questionable. I want to make sure it is legal and/if there are any risks we need to be aware of.

He suggested my M-I-L adds my wife to the title of the house for a short period of time while we go through the process. Then she can be removed after a period of time. This way we can have the solar in our name, get the tax credit, and we will do the financing.

The M-I-L does not have any concerns with my wife on the title. I guess she trusts us...

Any advice? Is this doable? Is it legal? Would this raise a red flag with the IRS? What should we be concerned about? How long should my wife be on the title?

Maybe there is a better way to accomplish the same results. Any other advice or suggestions?

Bryan
SLC, UT