lease or buy ?

[littlegreen]

About to pick up my Leaf tomorrow.

A friend who got his last week said that he wound up going with a 3-month Nissan lease (with the intention of buying after 3 months) instead of a purchase because that made the federal tax credit a rebate, instead of the tax credit. The tax credit supposedly was in question because of things like AMT (alternative minumum tax).

He was told this by a friend, and then the Nissan dealer repeated it when selling him their lease.

Does anyone know the story about the federal tax-credit (e.g. is it subject to AMT)?

 

[Desertstraw]

As I reported in another thread, IRS told me that you must wait three years to buy or the lessor must refund the $7,500. People are saying other things but without a good citation, I am sticking with the IRS info.

 

[LEAFer]

Do the lease agreements (in writing) require lessee to refund lessor if lessee tries to buy out the lease early ? I don't think so (loop-hole?) ...

 

[Spies]

As I reported in another thread, IRS told me that you must wait three years to buy or the lessor must refund the $7,500. People are saying other things but without a good citation, I am sticking with the IRS info.

No where on my lease paperwork or in the lease disclaimers on the Nissan web site does it mention this. I am not flat out saying this is incorrect but I have not been able to find any published information saying such. I also don't understand why this rule would be different for those purchasing the vehicle. I have not heard that if one was to sell the vehicle they purchased within three years they would need to refund the government the $7,500 tax credit.

 

[LEAFer]

Is there maybe a confusion between the $7,500 (federal) and the $5,000 from California (which *DOES* require 3 years continuous registration in CA, and may include a clause to pass along a pro-portionate amount to the new CA owner if selling in less than 3 years) ?