Huge $6000 Colorado State Tax Credit for Volt

[tfford]

I'll be the first to admit that as usual nothing is easy when it comes to the fed's but let's clear this up. You don't get money if you haven't paid, mostly.

Ex. Let's assume for arguments sake that for your adjusted gross income, after deductions, personal credits, etc. that your tax LIABILITY for the year is $10,000. This is the figure you'll have to settle up with Uncle Sam at the end of the year. Now, let's also throw in that you bought a Volt and are eligible for a $7,500 tax CREDIT, not necessarily a refund, mostly again.

It's now the end of the year (2011), and time do do your tax return
Go:
Scenario #1: You owe $10,000 and you've paid in your $10,000. So normally you'd owe no more and get nothing back but since you bought the Volt your tax liability has been reduced by the $7,500 CREDIT which now brings your liability to $2,500 so you've overpaid by $7,500 and you'll get that as a refund.

Scenario #2: End of year and you've only paid in $5,000 of the amount you actually owe so you'd normally owe another $5,000. The Volt has again reduced your liability to $2,500 but you'll only get $2,500 back since you only paid in $5,000. Everyone's going to ask, "why don't I get back the $5,000", because you owe $2,500 in taxes.

Scenario #3: End of year and you've managed to not pay in anything so you'll be sending the gov a check for $2,500. Remember, you owe $10,000 - $7,500 = $2,500 owed in taxes and since you've not paid, you do now so you'll ONLY pay Uncle Sam $2,500 in taxes this year. But you will be sending him a check and NOT getting anything back.

Example #2, your tax liability for the year is anything less than the Volt's $7,500 credit, $5,000, $3,000, etc. The Volt credit effectively reduces your tax liability to $0 so you ONLY get back an amount equal to whatever your tax liability was LESS whatever you haven't already paid in.

I.e., your liability is $5,000 and you've paid in $5,000. You'll get the $5,000 back, but NO MORE.

Your liability is $5,000 but you've only paid in $2,500, you'll get $2,500 back and no more because the Volt credit reduced your tax liability to $0 and you have paid in $2,500, so you get it back.

The ONLY way you actually get a full refund of $7,500 is if; 1) your tax liability is $7,500 or more and; 2) you've paid by the end of the year, $7,500 or more in taxes.

[nater]

I live in Colorado, and am a bit famous for having worked directly with Elon Musk at Tesla and directly with the state of Colorado to value the Tesla Roadster credit at $42,000. As is stands right now, the $6000 for 2011 is refundable, as a rebate, even if you have no tax liability.

I personally am carrying forward (under the old law) a massive EV tax credit, so I don't have tax liability for 2011.

Nate

[DonC]

What does California have to to with Colorado? Applicant requirements are; Individuals, businesses, nonprofits or government entities based in California or that have a California based affiliate.

I can't see in the link that you provided or even a Google search on "Air Resource Board", that Colorado falls under this and this whole thread is about a Colorado state tax credit, and I would still be willing to bet that it will operate similarly to the Federal credit but I will still also admit that from a state tax credit, I don't actually know. The Federal credit, I do.

Had you taken a minute to read before going down this road you would have known that I was responding to a point about the CA rebates running out, which was perfectly appropriate given that the suggestion was to check if CO had a sunset date. My main purpose was to make sure that any Californian reading the thread would know that the rebates in CA were still available and, more importantly, would know that the rebates would be available for Volts. Probably for similar reasons there is a post about MD. More may follow. Just pay attention and you won't be confused.

Out of curiosity, if you think that people should only be posting comments about the CO rebates in this thread why do you keep posting about the federal tax rebate? That's about as OT as you can get.

[tfford]

Out of curiosity, if you think that people should only be posting comments about the CO rebates in this thread why do you keep posting about the federal tax rebate? That's about as OT as you can get.

I see, there's no problem with you posting numerous comments about California rules in a thread that started out about Colorado state tax rebates but there is a problem with me comparing the state rebate to the federal.

Hmmm . . . Take a pill

[tangentlin]

Colorado has a state tax, we don't. I'd rather keep it that way.

Texas' sales tax is higher, as it is also one of the leading states in terms of tourist destinations, the Lone Star state could survive well without state income tax.

[joe189man]

Can anyone in CO verify that you get both the 7500 federal and the CO state 6000 rebates, my research points to this being corret but i was hoping to hear from someone who has been there and done that.

thanks

[gieso]

Can anyone in CO verify that you get both the 7500 federal and the CO state 6000 rebates, my research points to this being corret but i was hoping to hear from someone who has been there and done that.

I have not done it yet as I bought mine this year and was the first one deliverd in Colorado. Based upon the Colorado State Department of Revenue website, the 2011 Volt is one of the examples used in their FYI and it indicates $6000 credit. The state confirmed that the 2012 Volt will be the same, but the rules are expected to change for purchases made after Dec 31, 2011. Take a look at this link to the FYI related to the Colorado Alternative FuelIncome Tax Credit.
http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite...&ssbinary=true

Like the Fed $7500, this is a tax credit, so you have to have a total tax liability creater than the credit to take full advantage of it.

[joe189man]

Are you sure about your last statement. this is an excert fromthe bottom of page one of the doc you reference.

"Credits generated in 2010 or 2011 that exceed the tax due for that year are not carried forward but are refundable."

i take that to mean if you owe the state of CO less tha 6000 in taxes you should get some rebate back and all of it if you are eligible for a rebate in general... but i am not a tax expert and you could very well be right.

[gieso]

My Tax guy told me not to bank on it, but said he would work to get it refunded.

It doesn't sound right to be able to get $6000 regardless of what is paid in and owed. For example, if I owe $3000 with $3000 in withholding taken out, I would expect to get a check back for $3000. If I then got a check for $6000, I would be pleasantly surprised but would also expect that we would have more Volts being sold in Colorado to fit in before the Dec 31 deadline.

[jaksecret]

here is a brand new black base volt with black/white interior sitting at Purifoy Chevrolet this morning, if anyone's interested.
This was going to be my car but i was able to find one two months sooner, so I took it.