Tax credits for chargers are finished

[ChargedEVsMag]

In a masterpiece of bad timing, a federal tax break for EV chargers, which allowed filers to take a tax credit for 30% of the cost of a home charger, will expire at the end of this year, just as Volts and Leafs begin to trickle into more showrooms, and at least half a dozen new EV models are set to launch... http://www.chargedevs.com/content/news-wire/post/tax-credits-chargers-are-finished-and-credits-ev-purchases-may-be-next" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[thankyouOB]

thank the party that controls the House of Reps.
they love them some oil.

 

[Ready2plugin]

Since they have yet to fix the problem with AMT it didn't help me, and probably a lot of others as well. Good thing we have some less expensive alternatives to the AV EVSE now.

 

[smkettner]

I am expecting the evse units to drop in price by half within a year or two once supply and competition ramp up a bit.

 

[coqui]

Hmmmm...
Looks like I beat the deadline by 3 weeks :lol:

 

[milanski]

Makes me feel more than a bit uneasy, since my Leaf wont arrive until late Jan.

Maybe the $7500 break will be gone by the time I file 2012 taxes in Jan 2013.

sigh

 

[Boomer23]

Makes me feel more than a bit uneasy, since my Leaf wont arrive until late Jan.

Maybe the $7500 break will be gone by the time I file 2012 taxes in Jan 2013.

sigh

I wouldn't worry. These changes are put in place for each tax year. If the $7500 credit is in place for 2012 at this moment, I don't think that it can be rescinded during the year.

 

[asinclair]

Makes me feel more than a bit uneasy, since my Leaf wont arrive until late Jan.

Maybe the $7500 break will be gone by the time I file 2012 taxes in Jan 2013.

sigh

If you have a charger installed before the end of this year, you will most likely still qualify for the 30% credit...just food for thought. I had mine installed the December 2010 before my Leaf arrived to get the then-50% credit before my Leaf arrived in February 2011...

 

[gmuzhik]

I took a $750 credit last year (2010) for installation of an energy efficient HVAC system and this apparently disqualifies me for any EVSE 30% credit for 2011 according to turbotax. So keep that in mind as well. I was lucky to have the EV project pay for most of the cost but I would like to get the 30% credit on the extra I had to pay as well. I haven't thoroughly researched it yet but it looks like it's no can do.

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

I took a $750 credit last year (2010) for installation of an energy efficient HVAC system and this apparently disqualifies me for any EVSE 30% credit for 2011 according to turbotax. So keep that in mind as well. I was lucky to have the EV project pay for most of the cost but I would like to get the 30% credit on the extra I had to pay as well. I haven't thoroughly researched it yet but it looks like it's no can do.

Ouch! I had a new high SEER A/C system installed and also put in an EVSE in 2011. Are you saying the A/C credit disqualifies me for the credit on the EVSE?

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

When the 30% credit goes away the price will drop 30%.

 

[planet4ever]

I took a $750 credit last year (2010) for installation of an energy efficient HVAC system and this apparently disqualifies me for any EVSE 30% credit for 2011 according to turbotax.

That sounds like nonsense to me. Either a) it thinks you are trying to retrofit the credit to an updated version of your 2010 tax, or b) it is trying to give you more carryover credit in 2011 for your HVAC, or c) it's a bug in TurboTax.

Ray

 

[gmuzhik]

This is very preliminary since I do not have all my tax forms for my mutual funds:
I did some further exploring the forms under Turbotax and is seems that on the EVSE credit form 8911, there is something called "Tenative minimum tax" that seems to be the culprit preventing me from taking the 30% EVSE credit. To add insult to injury is that the $7500 credit I am claiming for my 2011 purchase of my Leaf is what is triggering this tenative minimum tax. How obscure (and annoying)! I'll post an update in a few weeks after I get all my required forms.
Anyone else getting caught with this?

 

[EdmondLeaf]

This is very preliminary since I do not have all my tax forms for my mutual funds:
I did some further exploring the forms under Turbotax and is seems that on the EVSE credit form 8911, there is something called "Tenative minimum tax" that seems to be the culprit preventing me from taking the 30% EVSE credit. To add insult to injury is that the $7500 credit I am claiming for my 2011 purchase of my Leaf is what is triggering this tenative minimum tax. How obscure (and annoying)! I'll post an update in a few weeks after I get all my required forms.
Anyone else getting caught with this?

We discussed that in the past http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6758

 

[gmuzhik]

Thanks EdmondLeaf! This is so obscure, I didn't think to search. Tax laws can be so complex and confusing. Another case of nailed by the fine print! I feel for the folks who paid upwards of $2000 for their EVSE, thinking they will be getting 30% back to find out the $7500 credit disqualifies them.

 

[ybitz]

I'm doing my tax in TurboTax, and I'm seeing the same thing as well -- If I claim the $7500 EV credit, I don't get the EVSE credit. I have quite a bit of property tax and mortgage interest deduction this year, and just to test the theory behind AMT, I took out all my property tax and mortgage interest (so my tax liability is high), but I still can't claim EVSE if I claim EV credit. Is it actually possible to claim both? Has anyone been able to claim both?

 

[smkettner]

I can't reduce my taxes either with evse deduction, as expected. Using TurboTax.

Also note I seem to pay more taxes when I click "yes" on the box that asks did you use the EV for business. Of which I want to claim a small business deduction but I seem to loose out on some of the credit. Changed the box to NO until I figure out what I want to do. :|

 

[planet4ever]

Ouch! I looked into this, and it's a real gotcha. It appears the only way you can claim both the vehicle credit and the EVSE credit in the same year is if your AMT is more than $7500 less than your regular tax. The dirty business is on Form 8911.

• Line 14 is (generally) the tax you would normally pay.
• Line 15b will include the $7500 vehicle credit.
• Line 16 is your net tax after the vehicle credit.
• Line 17 is the tentative AMT.
• The most you can claim for the EVSE credit is (Line 16) - (Line 17)

So, most people can forget about the EVSE credit, unless they leased.

BUMMER :!:

Ray

 

[thankyouOB]

i dont see how the 7500 tax credit works against anything. it is just like an estimated payment.

 

[planet4ever]

i dont see how the 7500 tax credit works against anything. it is just like an estimated payment.

I agree that's what it should be, but that's not the way the 8911 form works. I think someone messed up the rule-making. Possibly the error is in the legislation, but I don't see that it specifies such a draconian restriction. I went back and checked the 2010 form and instructions, and the same limit applied there, though the line numbers were different. We didn't notice it last year, because virtually no one got their LEAFs in 2010. The winners were the people who got their EVSEs in 2010 (with a 50% tax credit) and their cars in 2011.

If there was more money involved it might be worth contesting this in the courts, claiming that the rule is not in line with the law.

Ray

P.S. Perhaps ChargedEVsMag should go back and change the thread title to "Tax credits for chargers were finished before they started"