Does the vehicle have to be purchase in the residing state for tax credit?

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dvu

Active member
Joined
Nov 20, 2016
Messages
35
Location
SF Bay Area
In CA, does the vehicle have to be purchased from California dealer to get the full tax credit for state and federal?
 
I would imagine that you get the federal, but not the state. Not your state, or even the state you bought it in either. You are not a resident of that state...
 
If the motivation for providing the incentives are to foster EV manufacturers and to improve the state's environment, it oughtn't matter where you buy the car. There would, of course, be a small benefit to the local economy from whatever profit the dealer makes on the car being spent locally. But would you expect an out-of-state resident who comes to your state for a killer deal on a new EV to be able to apply for some rebate cash to take home along with the car?
 
https://cleanvehiclerebate.org/eng/eligibility-guidelines answers the OP for the CA state rebate aka CVRP. It's a rebate, not a tax credit.

From the above: “Be registered as new in California. Vehicles may not be purchased or leased out of state.”

This has nothing to do with the Federal tax credit.
 
Based on the IRS (federal EV credit) 8936 form, there are no restrictions on where you may buy the car.
https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8936.pdf

Per the 8936 form instructions, the following requirements must be met to qualify for the credit:
* You are the owner of the vehicle. If the vehicle is leased, only the lessor and not the lessee, is entitled to the credit.
* You placed the vehicle in service during your tax year.
* The vehicle is manufactured primarily for use on public streets, roads, and highways.
* The original use of the vehicle began with you.
* You acquired the vehicle for use or to lease to others, and not for resale.
* You use the vehicle primarily in the United States.
 
Not sure about California, but on the east coast, in several states, to claim the state EV tax rebates 1.) you have to be a resident of that state, and 2.) the dealer has to be in that state. This is how it works for New York and Massachusetts (and I believe Maryland as well). I'm a New York State resident, so I can't claim the Massachusetts state tax rebate if I buy from a Massachusetts dealer since I'm not an MA resident, and nor can I get the NY rebate since for that to work the dealer would have to be in NY. It's too bad because other states often have EVs listed at competitive prices (MA, MD, etc), but without the state tax rebate it wouldn't make sense to purchase.
 
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