Can you claim Fed/State Tax incentive/Credit again

if you buy 2nd EV? I did a quick search but couldn't find anything. I was under the assumption that if the money is there, then the credit/incentive will be offered. But I want to make sure before getting another Leaf. Thanks

As long as you have the necessary tax liability, you can claim the Federal credit for more than one qualifying electric vehicle. I will claim for my second LEAF on my 2015 taxes.

Gerry

"No guarantees", but I'm quite sure it's per car, even if you bought three in the same calendar year (as long as you paid at least 3 x $7500 in federal income tax). If you're buying the two in different tax years, your odds are even better that it would apply to each (and that you'd be able to use the full credit).

I'd wait for others to chime in, though.

Incidentally, in the federal 2015 budget proposal, the administration recommended increasing the amount to $10,000 and changing the credit to a point-of-sale rebate, rather than tax credit. I'm not sure when that will be finalized (IF it is) or go into effect, but it might be worth waiting to see what happens if it's only a month or two.

mbender said:

"No guarantees", but I'm quite sure it's per car, even if you bought three in the same calendar year (as long as you paid at least 3 x $7500 in federal income tax). If you're buying the two in different tax years, your odds are even better that it would apply to each (and that you'd be able to use the full credit).

I'd wait for others to chime in, though.

Incidentally, in the federal 2015 budget proposal, the administration recommended increasing the amount to $10,000 and changing the credit to a point-of-sale rebate, rather than tax credit. I'm not sure when that will be finalized (IF it is) or go into effect, but it might be worth waiting to see what happens if it's only a month or two.

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Thanks, that's great info. I am also interested in if CA state tax is the same situation as the Federal.

No, the CA rebate is already a point-of-sale rebate, albeit for "only" $2,500. I put $2,500 down for my lease down payment and received a check from the state (energycenter.org) for that amount 2-3 months after the transaction. So I got reduced monthly payments even though I (effectively) put "nothing" down! ;-)

mbender said:

No, the CA rebate is already a point-of-sale rebate, albeit for "only" $2,500. I put $2,500 down for my lease down payment and received a check from the state (energycenter.org) for that amount 2-3 months after the transaction. So I got reduced monthly payments even though I (effectively) put "nothing" down! ;-)

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While the CA state rebate comes back in the mail in a couple of months, that is not quite exactly "Point of sale"...

The ARB recently has been discussing actually making the rebate a true point of sale payout, but since only 70% of drivers are applying for the rebate now, they figured that they'd have to come up with the other 30% if the rebate was paid out at the time of purchase. So the idea seems to have lost traction because of that (at least for now)...

Randy said:

The ARB recently has been discussing actually making the rebate a true point of sale payout, but since only 70% of drivers are applying for the rebate now

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Wow! It's pretty amazing that people are so clueless they're leaving that much cash on the table.

Hey, if anyone reading this doesn't want their $2500, I'd be happy to take it off your hands!

I bought 2 Leafs in 2014 and received the federal and state tax credits for both of them in my tax return (and received the refunds already).

mbender said:

...in the federal 2015 budget proposal, the administration recommended increasing the amount to $10,000 and changing the credit to a point-of-sale rebate, rather than tax credit. I'm not sure when that will be finalized (IF it is) or go into effect, but it might be worth waiting to see what happens if it's only a month or two.

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:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Now there is some dry wit :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
With the current makeup of the US Congress, my $ will be on the proverbial snow ball in hell :lol: :lol: :lol:

xbox409 said:

if you buy 2nd EV? I did a quick search but couldn't find anything. I was under the assumption that if the money is there, then the credit/incentive will be offered. But I want to make sure before getting another Leaf. Thanks

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you may claim as often as you wish for all cars purchased for personal use

The California Clean Vehicle Rebate Program is now limited to a maximum of two rebates per entity/ person: https://energycenter.org/clean-vehicle-rebate-project/faqs/how-many-rebates-can-i-receive" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

GeekEV said:

The California Clean Vehicle Rebate Program is now limited to a maximum of two rebates per entity/ person: https://energycenter.org/clean-vehicle-rebate-project/faqs/how-many-rebates-can-i-receive" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Wow, that's what I was looking for. Hmm... good thing that the rebate/incentive received prior to 1/1/2015 does not count, so looks like i am still good. Now if only the Bolt or new Leaf can be available sooner.

If applied as a rebate, the $10,000 proposed point of sale rebate could actually be anywhere from $6,000-$10,000 in actual money depending on your tax situation. A rebate is taxable just like any other income, whereas the current $7500 tax credit comes off of your taxes paid. If you had a marginal tax rate of (28%) which is what mine is, your actual credit would be equivalent to $7200, because the rest would be consumed in taxes. In fact this might even increase your tax basis compared to prior years because it would raise your taxable income by 10K. So in my case, and I would suspect most other two income households, you'd be better off with the current scenario.

I think the goal of this is actually to make the incentives more accessible to lower income americans who don't pay enough in taxes to take advantage of the existing credit. Let's say that you had a marginal tax rate of only 14% and only paid $4500 in federal taxes, the current credit would yield you $4500, but the new proposal would yield you $8600!. On the flip side, if you were very wealthy and paid the highest 39% tax bracket, you would have yielded $7500 in the current scenario, and $6100, in the new proposed scenario.

This proposal is nothing but progressive taxation applied to the EV tax credit.

tkdbrusco said:

...
This proposal is nothing but progressive taxation applied to the EV tax credit.

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Compared to the current federal tax credit, which is grossly regressive in that a very large % of the US can only receive a benefit if they lease and if the OEM lending company is fair and passes the full benefit through to the leasee. (Which NMAC and most Nissan dealers have done, unlike some other OEMs who tried to keep the benefit.)

we've done this 3 years running now. we traded our 2013 and got a great deal on a 2014, with the tax credit, we made 1,000. We traded our 2014 for a 2015 and walked away owing a little.

It's nice driving a new car every year and not having to pay for it! Going to miss the Georgia tax credits.