A noob question on the $7500 rebate...

[Stilgar99]

I have some question on the gov $7500 rebate.
a) I know if I lease the Volt that the dealer gets/takes the rebate. But if I buy the Volt, how does it work? I mean...do I pay the full $41000+ and then fill out forms and wait for a rebate check? Or is it a tax deduction thing? or??

b) Also...I have heard that the rebates end Dec 31 2010. So....I my Volt does not come in till Jan/Fed am I screwed?

All help appreciated

Stilgar

[ssj4vegita2002]

a) Yes, the tax credit gets baked into the lease. If you buy/finance, then you pay the full $41,000 and fill out the correct forms. It is a tax CREDIT, not rebate. From what I understand, the credit can only bring your tax liability down to 0. So if you only owe $1000 in taxes hypothetically, $6500 of the credit will kind of be wasted. It will not turn into a refund, and will not increase your existing refund. This is why I will be leasing.

b) Being able to apply for the credit and have it show up on next year's tax statement ends on december 31st, not the credit program all together. There should still be plenty of rebates in 2011.

[twist]

A Volt received by December 31st 2010 is tax credited on this years tax form. Looks like most are scheduled to arrive in January 2011. I use an online tax filing service (TaxAct) which asks if I wish to apply for a green credit. I did this 4 years ago with dual pane windows. Received the credit no problem at all. Also you may want to call your electricity provider to ask about discounted rates for EV recharge. California Edison will install a meter on the outlet your have reserved for your EV. You get a low tier rate (I believe .095 kwhr cents) without bumping your regular electric bill into a higher tier. When I called they asked what car I was buying. Mentioned Volt and they said it qualifies for the low tier recharge meter. But, you must have the car BEFORE they will install a meter.

[Stilgar99]

Thank you all......answered questions nicely!
Stilgar

[shawnw2]

whoa whoa whoa... from what I understood is that the $7500 is a tax rebate/refund, i.e. a 1:1 credit... meaning if I have say a $2000 liability I would then get a $5500 rebate after buying a Volt. Can someone else confirm this? If I don't get it like that, it doesn't make sense anymore to get the Volt (granted the economic value was stretching it even with the full rebate, and there are other reasons, but as a little 'ole soldier, I don't have that much excess income for those externalities).

[ssj4vegita2002]

I'm like 99% sure it can only bring your liability to $0. And I think it mostly has to do with the language. It is a tax CREDIT, not a REBATE or a REFUND.

[Michael]

whoa whoa whoa... from what I understood is that the $7500 is a tax rebate/refund, i.e. a 1:1 credit... meaning if I have say a $2000 liability I would then get a $5500 rebate after buying a Volt. Can someone else confirm this? If I don't get it like that, it doesn't make sense anymore to get the Volt (granted the economic value was stretching it even with the full rebate, and there are other reasons, but as a little 'ole soldier, I don't have that much excess income for those externalities).

For those of us that won't have enough tax liability to get the full refund, the only way to go is to lease. And it seems to be a good one too!

[?'smyvolt]

whoa whoa whoa... from what I understood is that the $7500 is a tax rebate/refund, i.e. a 1:1 credit... meaning if I have say a $2000 liability I would then get a $5500 rebate after buying a Volt. Can someone else confirm this? If I don't get it like that, it doesn't make sense anymore to get the Volt (granted the economic value was stretching it even with the full rebate, and there are other reasons, but as a little 'ole soldier, I don't have that much excess income for those externalities).

I got nailed by this exact problem three years ago when I was deployed to the middle east. I wound up with a tax refund because of too much deducted from my pay. As a result, we did not get the $3,150 credit we were supposed to get for the prius I bought my wife before leaving. So, I am really confused about how this works.......

[ClarksonCote]

I got nailed by this exact problem three years ago when I was deployed to the middle east. I wound up with a tax refund because of too much deducted from my pay. As a result, we did not get the $3,150 credit we were supposed to get for the prius I bought my wife before leaving. So, I am really confused about how this works.......

It sounds like you're saying that because you withheld more money for your taxes, that you were unable to take the credit, even though your tax liability exceeded $3150. That seems a little scary to me.

My understanding is that, if I owe 10k in taxes for 2010, it shouldn't matter if I had my employer take 2k out or 20k out. I should be able to claim the full $7500 tax credit because my liability was over that amount, regardless of what I had my employer withhold.

Can somebody confirm if my understanding is correct?

[MichaelH]

ClarksonCote,

I can't confirm it, but I can tell that what you stated matches with my understanding of a tax credit. It goes against your "liability," not the amount you may or may not owe based on how much was payed in. Does anyone know if the Prius tax credit/rebate/? wording three years ago was the same as the current law?
I have my 2010 Turbo Tax disc, but I haven't loaded it on my computer yet, so can't do "what ifs" yet.