a couple of 2006 Prius tax questions

[elmofongo]

Hello,

I just got my copy of TurboTax and I have 2 questions regarding my 2006 Prius:

1) Do I need to get any supporting documentation from the Toyota dealer to apply for my 2006 hybrid tax credit?

2) Does California provide any tax breaks for buying a hybrid vehicle?


Thanks

[matteo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(elmofongo @ Jan 22 2007, 10:43 AM) [snapback]379058[/snapback]</div>

Hello,

I just got my copy of TurboTax and I have 2 questions regarding my 2006 Prius:

1) Do I need to get any supporting documentation from the Toyota dealer to apply for my 2006 hybrid tax credit?

2) Does California provide any tax breaks for buying a hybrid vehicle?
Thanks
[/b]

1. Yes and no. The bill of sale that shows the date when you bought it. It is a rolling amount based on the sale date.
2. Not that I know of yet. I meet with my CPA next Tuesday. If no one chimes in, I will let you know what I find out.

[elmofongo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Heir Butt @ Jan 22 2007, 02:19 PM) [snapback]379073[/snapback]</div>

1. Yes and no. The bill of sale that shows the date when you bought it. It is a rolling amount based on the sale date.
2. Not that I know of yet. I meet with my CPA next Tuesday. If no one chimes in, I will let you know what I find out.
[/b]

Ok Thanks.

[juliem]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(elmofongo @ Jan 22 2007, 10:43 AM) [snapback]379058[/snapback]</div>

2) Does California provide any tax breaks for buying a hybrid vehicle?
[/b]

I was wondering this same thing. I checked out the Franchise Tax Board for CA, and found this: Hybrid Bill (warning -- PDF alert). So I called Gail Hall, one of the staffers attached to the bill. She actually answered the phone! Unfortunately, the bill died, so there's no state tax deductions/credits for Californians. She said that there's a chance that a new bill could be introduced this year, so this would be a good time to call/email/write your local assemblyperson and ask him/her to sponsor new legislation.

[elmofongo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(OaklandPrius @ Jan 22 2007, 05:34 PM) [snapback]379188[/snapback]</div>

I was wondering this same thing. I checked out the Franchise Tax Board for CA, and found this: Hybrid Bill (warning -- PDF alert). So I called Gail Hall, one of the staffers attached to the bill. She actually answered the phone! Unfortunately, the bill died, so there's no state tax deductions/credits for Californians. She said that there's a chance that a new bill could be introduced this year, so this would be a good time to call/email/write your local assemblyperson and ask him/her to sponsor new legislation.
[/b]

Yeah that sucks specially since according to the press, hybrid vehicles are pretty popular with CA legislators:

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file...;type=printable

[JimN]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Heir Butt @ Jan 22 2007, 02:19 PM) [snapback]379073[/snapback]</div>

1. Yes and no. The bill of sale that shows the date when you bought it. It is a rolling amount based on the sale date.
2. Not that I know of yet. I meet with my CPA next Tuesday. If no one chimes in, I will let you know what I find out.
[/b]

If your CPA has a 2006 form 8910 (NOT the one with the 2005 in the upper right corner) all of us would like a copy of the file posted here. If you are going to use the 2005 dated form I recommend getting assurances in writing that if it is disallowed the CPA will file the 1040X and cover any interest and penalty not waived.

[janetjanetbobanet]

Has anyone from Kansas with a 2006 done their taxes yet? There was a post on the subject last year, I need to look it up, I guess. I will be using TurboTax, too.

[elmofongo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimN @ Jan 22 2007, 08:29 PM) [snapback]379243[/snapback]</div>

If your CPA has a 2006 form 8910 (NOT the one with the 2005 in the upper right corner) all of us would like a copy of the file posted here. If you are going to use the 2005 dated form I recommend getting assurances in writing that if it is disallowed the CPA will file the 1040X and cover any interest and penalty not waived.
[/b]

According to TurboTax 8910 will be available Feb16.

http://support.turbotax.intuit.com/cgi-bin...amp;p_lva=2460#

[mustu]

I'm a CPA and believe I can shed some light on this discussion.

The reason the current Form 8910 shows 2005 in the upper right hand corner (even though this credit wasn't available unless cars were purchased after 2005) is because it could apply to taxpayer's who had a fiscal tax year.

So, if a business had a fiscal year ending 3/30/06 they would file a 2005 tax return. However, they would still get this credit if the car was purchased in 2006.

The IRS has not released the 2006 version of this form yet. My professional tax software has a draft version of the form and it's very similar to the 2005 version (but not exactly the same). I personally would not file a return without a final version of this form. However, if someone really really wanted to file the return now I think they could just cross out 2005 and write in 2006. I wouldn't file electronically though if you were doing this.

Anyone claiming this credit will also need to calculate their AMT liability. I think it will be interesting to see how many people qualify for full credit because of AMT. I've had several clients call me about buying a hybrid and the tax credit. In all their cases, they would not receive any credit because of AMT.

[juliem]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but will TurboTax be able to automatically figure out if you are affected by the AMT?

Does anyone actually know how much you need to make in order to be affected by the AMT?

I've been filling out the 1040EZ form via TurboTax for a few years, and I'm fine with that. Easy as pie. But I'm starting to get paranoid that I'm going to mess up my taxes due to the extra forms and full 1040 that need to be filled out to claim the credit.

Thanks for any help...