Tax credit for two Prius purchases

tacomel · 05-23-2006, 11:06 PM

Hello. After reading thousands of posts on this board, taking a test drive, and following that up with three days of calling around, my wife and I have located "his and hers" Prii each promised in June, 2006. While we have defined which is "his" and which is "hers" at this point, I have a feeling that "hers" will be the one that's ready first...

Back to my topic, I generally understand how tax credits work, what the tax credit is, etc. And we'll assume for the sake of discussion that both cars are actually purchased in June or at least before September 30. Now my questions:

1. Two cars = 2 x $3150?? I've seen a couple sites that say this but they mention this in passing. Anyone know for sure?

2. A bit of background to this question is that I make slightly more than twice as much as my wife does, everything we own -- house, kid, etc. -- is jointly in both of our names, and there is no doubt at all that together we will have at least 2x$3150 of tax liability. We have never been subject to the AMT but I fear that with two hybrid credits we might. I have seen general advice to avoid the AMT (accelerate income, delay paying state or local taxes). I have this more immediate question - is there any advantage to how we title the cars, if we might want to file "married filing separately" to maximize the credit or reduce the potential for AMT? Should we title the cars something other than "Mr. and Mrs. Taco" (using our real names of course) -- is it advantageous to have Mrs. Taco put both cars in her name, or me put both cars in my name, or one apiece? Does it even matter?

Given the amount of potential money involved I'll probably refer this to a CPA and if I find anything out "authoritative" I will be sure to post back, but I'm interested if anyone else might have an answer on one or both of these issues. This is for Wisconsin, by the way, but I'm most interested in the federal tax implications because I don't think WI has anything similar.

auricchio · 05-23-2006, 11:38 PM

Tax credits should not change your AMT status.

Ask a CPA to be sure, of course!

daniel · 05-24-2006, 12:06 AM

I have been told by an accountant, a banker, and a CFP, that the AMT is so complicated that nobody can give general answers regarding it. The only way is to run the numbers.

tacomel · 05-25-2006, 12:11 PM

Followup as promised.

First he said that the credit is per-taxpayer meaning that if I bought two Prii on my own, I get only one credit... but since my wife and I are two taxpayers, that means two credits. Therefore, one will be titled as "Mr. and Mrs. Taco" and the other as "Mrs. and Mr. Taco" and this will correspond to who actually drives the car the most. This probably does not matter, but seems the most legitimate. Any tricks with "married filing separately" won't work.

With regard to the AMT, he said that my wife and I "don't make enough to be subject to the AMT," but we will not get full benefit from the credits because our "tentative minimum tax" will be greater than our final tax amount with the credits applied. I had never heard of the "tentative minimum tax" so I googled it, and found that by definition, AMT = (tentative minimum tax) - (normally calculated tax). I don't know if he just didn't explain it well (or maybe he wanted to try to confuse me into hiring him do my taxes next year instead of me doing it myself). But, basically with just about any scenario, the AMT will eat at least some of the second credit. In my case we'll lose $1000-$2000 of the total credit.

So, regardless of who you are, it doesn't look like you're likely to get 2 x $3150 for two Prius purchases this year, unless you make such huge amounts of money so that the differences between the AMT rate and "normal" rate are substantial -- and probably not even then. But the amount that AMT will eat depends on your situation.

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05-23-2006, 11:06 PM	#1
tacomel Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 152 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Hello. After reading thousands of posts on this board, taking a test drive, and following that up with three days of calling around, my wife and I have located "his and hers" Prii each promised in June, 2006. While we have defined which is "his" and which is "hers" at this point, I have a feeling that "hers" will be the one that's ready first... Back to my topic, I generally understand how tax credits work, what the tax credit is, etc. And we'll assume for the sake of discussion that both cars are actually purchased in June or at least before September 30. Now my questions: 1. Two cars = 2 x $3150?? I've seen a couple sites that say this but they mention this in passing. Anyone know for sure? 2. A bit of background to this question is that I make slightly more than twice as much as my wife does, everything we own -- house, kid, etc. -- is jointly in both of our names, and there is no doubt at all that together we will have at least 2x$3150 of tax liability. We have never been subject to the AMT but I fear that with two hybrid credits we might. I have seen general advice to avoid the AMT (accelerate income, delay paying state or local taxes). I have this more immediate question - is there any advantage to how we title the cars, if we might want to file "married filing separately" to maximize the credit or reduce the potential for AMT? Should we title the cars something other than "Mr. and Mrs. Taco" (using our real names of course) -- is it advantageous to have Mrs. Taco put both cars in her name, or me put both cars in my name, or one apiece? Does it even matter? Given the amount of potential money involved I'll probably refer this to a CPA and if I find anything out "authoritative" I will be sure to post back, but I'm interested if anyone else might have an answer on one or both of these issues. This is for Wisconsin, by the way, but I'm most interested in the federal tax implications because I don't think WI has anything similar.

05-23-2006, 11:38 PM	#2
auricchio Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Cambria, CA, USA Posts: 853 My Car: 2006 Prius Package: #8 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Tax credits should not change your AMT status. Ask a CPA to be sure, of course!

05-24-2006, 12:06 AM	#3
daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Spokane, WA Posts: 9,124 My Car: 2004 Prius Package: #6 Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	I have been told by an accountant, a banker, and a CFP, that the AMT is so complicated that nobody can give general answers regarding it. The only way is to run the numbers.

05-25-2006, 12:11 PM	#4
tacomel Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 152 My Car: Package: Nominated 0 Times in 0 Posts TOTM Awards: 0 Friends: 0	Followup as promised. First he said that the credit is per-taxpayer meaning that if I bought two Prii on my own, I get only one credit... but since my wife and I are two taxpayers, that means two credits. Therefore, one will be titled as "Mr. and Mrs. Taco" and the other as "Mrs. and Mr. Taco" and this will correspond to who actually drives the car the most. This probably does not matter, but seems the most legitimate. Any tricks with "married filing separately" won't work. With regard to the AMT, he said that my wife and I "don't make enough to be subject to the AMT," but we will not get full benefit from the credits because our "tentative minimum tax" will be greater than our final tax amount with the credits applied. I had never heard of the "tentative minimum tax" so I googled it, and found that by definition, AMT = (tentative minimum tax) - (normally calculated tax). I don't know if he just didn't explain it well (or maybe he wanted to try to confuse me into hiring him do my taxes next year instead of me doing it myself). But, basically with just about any scenario, the AMT will eat at least some of the second credit. In my case we'll lose $1000-$2000 of the total credit. So, regardless of who you are, it doesn't look like you're likely to get 2 x $3150 for two Prius purchases this year, unless you make such huge amounts of money so that the differences between the AMT rate and "normal" rate are substantial -- and probably not even then. But the amount that AMT will eat depends on your situation.