2012 Leafers, $7500 Tax Credit, and IRS Form 8910?

[KillaWhat]

2012 Leafers, $7500 Tax Credit, and IRS Form 8910?

It's that time, and I cannot find a 2012 Form 8910?
This IS the form we need, right?

Anybody have any luck finding one?
Found a DRAFT copy, specifically marked not for filing.

I read what a lot of the 2011 Leafers went through with denials and reductions, so I'm going to submit;

Form 8910.
Bill of Sale
Title
Valid Registration
A copy of the IRS's own determination of the Leaf's eligibility for the credit.

Any other suggestions from somebody (2011) who has been through this?
Anybody?

 

[mwalsh]

Built into TurboTax. Not supported in H&R Block (at least not last year).

 

[eclecticflower]

I will need it, too. Found this at IRS.gov:

http://apps.irs.gov/app/picklist/list/formsInstructions.html;jsessionid=gefp6SIjQMbU2hCEoTJLHg__?value=8910&criteria=formNumber&submitSearch=Find" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Site shows it was posted 7-17-12, but it says 2011 on the form - hmmm...

Also noted on the IRS site:

Forms & Publications
Some 2012 tax forms, instructions and publications are not yet available, but will be posted with the Current Forms & Pubs as soon as they are.

-Kathy

 

[asinclair]

I believe the proper form is 8936 for a Leaf.

 

[planet4ever]

I believe the proper form is 8936 for a Leaf.

That is correct. DO NOT USE FORM 8910. It is only for things like electric motorcycles or Neighborhood (low speed) EVs.

But you won't find a 2012 Form 8936 yet, either. Don't blame the IRS for this, blame the Congress. The IRS had no idea what rules might be tweaked by the "Fiscal Cliff" negotiations, so they couldn't create final forms until after that was all resolved, which, as you probably remember, wasn't until two weeks ago today.

Actually, I don't think there was any change in Form 8936 out of those negotiations, so you can use the 2011 version as a working copy, but you shouldn't actually submit your tax forms until they publish the 2012 edition. Incidentally, one thing that was changed in the negotiations was that the EVSE credit, which expired at the end of 2011, was reinstated retroactive to January 2012. So if you installed an EVSE in 2012 you may be eligible for up to a 30% credit on all costs. For that you will need Form 8911, which of course is also not available for 2012 at present. Again, you can use the 2011 version as a working copy.

Warning: You are unlikely to get much out of Form 8911 if you are submitting Form 8936 for the same year. There is a curious twist which traps you in AMT calculations even though you wouldn't otherwise have to use AMT. (Amazingly, the IRS does seem to have a 2012 AMT Form 6251 on their website.)

Ray

 

[mwalsh]

That's right...8936. Sorry, didn't read the thead title properly.

 

[thankyouOB]

Warning: You are unlikely to get much out of Form 8911 if you are submitting Form 8936 for the same year. There is a curious twist which traps you in AMT calculations even though you wouldn't otherwise have to use AMT. (Amazingly, the IRS does seem to have a 2012 AMT Form 6251 on their website.)

Ray

depends.
i got both the EV and the EVSE credit.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Both the $7500 federal tax credit (8936) and 30% charging station credit (8911) are available for 2012, however the forms are not yet ready from IRS for 2012.

 

[Computerizer]

FYI, TaxACT Online lets you put in data for these forms already without any issues, though it's true the IRS hasn't published them yet. Obviously this means you can't actually file through TaxACT Online yet if you use these forms, but at least you can put in your numbers and figure it all out.

Looking at the worksheets, it looks like they won't let you use these credits to make yourself have negative tax (which makes sense). In my case, my computed tax for 2012 was about $7,900. If I take the LEAF credit, that leaves $400 of tax that I owe. Assuming I spent $1000 on my EVSE, and the EVSE credit is 30%, I can thus take that $300 credit as well. That leaves me with just $100 tax owed (which is a heck of a lot less than I paid in through payroll deductions, so I'm getting a hefty refund). I couldn't have planned that better if I tried.

However if my tax owed (for whatever reason) was only, say, $6,000, then on the LEAF credit I'd get only $6,000, and the EVSE credit would give me nothing (or, the EVSE credit would give me $300 and the LEAF credit would give me $5,700).

 

[planet4ever]

Looking at the worksheets, it looks like they won't let you use these credits to make yourself have negative tax (which makes sense). In my case, my computed tax for 2012 was about $7,900. If I take the LEAF credit, that leaves $400 of tax that I owe. Assuming I spent $1000 on my EVSE, and the EVSE credit is 30%, I can thus take that $300 credit as well.

Unfortunately it's not that simple. Line 17 of Form 8911 forces you to calculate your AMT, even if it doesn't otherwise apply to you, and compare pre-credit AMT to post-credit regular tax. See EVSE - credit ... seems to be more complex than simply AMT for an earlier discussion of this. [Historical note: This thread was started by gudy in Feb 2011. He was the very first person to get a LEAF, and so one of only a few who could file for the credits against their 2010 income taxes.]

See also Electric drive vehicle credit 8936 decreased/rejected by IRS for the fights and months of waiting many people who were expecting a $7500 check from the IRS went through last year.

Ray