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Federal and State Incentives for Plug-Ins, EV's

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by wjtracy, Sep 24, 2012.

  1. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Thanks for reporting back but that is a real shocker because GA is so highly pro-EV. 9G how about utility deals for off-peak power?
     
  2. DadofHedgehog

    DadofHedgehog Active Member

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    Web site that aggregates alternative energy incentives at Federal, state and local levels which might apply, among other things, to alt. energy cars: (meant as a guide to residential and commercial energy conservation issues overall, largely to houses):

    DSIRE: Database of Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy Solar Incentives, Rebates, Programs, Policy


    Subset of same site that covers active local jurisdiction incentives in Virginia:

    DSIRE:

    Incentives in VA

    : Virginia Homeowner Incentives for Renewable Energy

     
  3. hill

    hill High Fiber Member

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    In California the CA rebate money is not tax related - you get a rebate check. You have to owe federal taxes in order to use any part of the plugin Fed tax credit. If you can't use it up in 2 years you are hosed. Check to see if your state is tax crdit related or whether it is a straight rebate. There's a big difference.
     
  4. moviebizman

    moviebizman Junior Member

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    Someone mentioned above that you should check with your dealer... technically they are not the one's who know all the information on this stuff. This is my second hybrid vehicle and each time I have found that when shopping around and asking questions, the dealers do NOT know this information.
    I found that the best person to ask is your tax accountant. As long as they are on the up and up, and they are up to date with their knowledge of the latest applicable tax credits, etc.... (which if they are good they should be.)
    With the last three (including my PiP) of my green vehicle purchases - my tax accountant knew right off the bat for sure each time I checked with him.
    When I bought my 2006 Civic Hybrid in 2005, he was able to tell me before my purchase : $1500 State / $2500 Credit (Federal)
    When I bought my 2010 Audi Q7 TDI : The dealer wasn't sure but my tax accountant knew: $1100 Federal tax credit for Clean Burning Diesel (TDI).
    And now I called him on the PiP when I bought it in August. $1500.00 rebate from the State's ARB program. (I received this $1500.00 check 2 weeks after my purchase.) and $2500.00 Federal tax credit.

    And I never lease vehicles, but yes I believe I did read and was told by my incredibly knowledgeable Toyota salesman, the Federal tax credit applies to those who do lease also. (Now these guys actually go to sales training courses on PiP - from what he told me.)
     
  5. Tracksyde

    Tracksyde Member

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    The federal tax credit goes to the lessor/leasing company, not the lessee (as someone else also pointed out above somewhere).

    Here's the tax form (8936)

    http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8936.pdf

    Bottom of Page 2:

    In addition to certification, 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;

    I just looked this up yesterday for a co-worker because he was telling everyone how he got a great deal on a Volt lease ($230/mo after taxes, which IS great, and $3k down) but he kept telling everyone he was also expecting his $7500 federal tax credit at the end of the year. I didnt want to burst his bubble, but I couldnt have him spreading false info :cool:.
     
  6. moviebizman

    moviebizman Junior Member

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    Yo Tracksyde,
    Good to know. As I said. I never lease. I pay my vehicles off in a couple of years whether it was my $80K Audi Q7 TDI or S4 Stasis... Leasing is a rip - even if you plan on changing cars every two to three years. LOL but it's good if you don't want to end up with so many cars. I like having lots of cars though, (like shoe choices - which one should I wear today.)
    Anyway, next time I talk to the salesguy at Power Toyota I'll let him know he was wrong. He knew I was there to buy only, but when trying to rationalize buying a vehicle the first year it comes out (usually there are tons of recalls the first year of a new model) he gave me leasing options and said I would still qualify for the federal tax credit.

    ...which brings me back to my main point... check with your tax accountant. Do not rely on info from the dealership. They are just there to sell.
    Thanks.
     
  7. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    OK thanks, I had said check with the dealer, because it was a Fisker Karma salesperson who informed me about Virginia Utility incentives, which are little known. I cannot argue with the tax accountant, but the some of the incentives are on a local city/county level so your tax accountant needs to be aware of that too. I agree, from the responses so far on this thread, we are getting anecdotal evidence that the dealers are not always giving correct information on the incentives. In fact, sounds like some Toyota dealers could sell a lot more PiP's if they only knew and communicated to the buyers about the fed/state incentives. It is my hope that this thread helps.

    We need to be a little careful about stressing that a Lessee does not get the incentives (directly). That is true on Federal level. But your state may allow the state credits anyway.
     
  8. curioustraveller12

    curioustraveller12 New Member

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    Hello, I am planning to buy the 2012 base plug in. I live in Long Island, New York. Would appreciate any information about any rebates or incentives here. Could not get much information from the dealer.
     
  9. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Dear Curious, we are discussing NY incentives on another thread, as we speak. Of course, everyone qualifies for the federal $2500 tax credit, assuming you have US tax liability you can get the credit as we have been discussing.
    The bad news is that NY state appears to be in with the crowd (VA, NJ, GA) that does not give state tax PiP incentives. You do have some free HOV access that any hybrid qualifies for. LIPA customers can get extra $500 rebate as well, according to one PriusChat member. Presumably LIPA is the utility I used to know and love as LILCO, my spouse being from the Lonk Island, I get up there sometimes.

    Also I should mention it appears Toyota is giving extra big PiP discount in NY ($3500), perhaps compensating for the lack of state incentives.

    New Yorkers please chime in with any PiP incentives we may be missing in NY?
     
  10. curioustraveller12

    curioustraveller12 New Member

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    Wjtracy, Thanks so much for the feedback.
     
  11. Satch

    Satch Junior Member

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    wjtracy likes this.
  12. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Thank you Satch- are you reading this like I am?
    They don't call it West "By God" Virginia for nothing. I have family there.
    I knew it was considered best state for a Volt, but we have a little secret.
     
  13. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    El Dobro said:
    Here's the deal on Toyota's website. It's good 'til Nov. 5th. Buyatoyota.com

    WJTracy says:
    We have a number of related threads going (very nice exchange of ideas):
    Planning to buy 2012 prius plug in this month, any advice? | PriusChat
    Federal and State Incentives for Plug-Ins, EV's | PriusChat
    Toyota Offering 0% + $2000 Back On PIP | PriusChat
    Price Paid on PIP? | PriusChat

    Key points from my perspective:
    • Toyota trying to get these PiPs off lots (big sale see Buyatoyota.com) up to $3500 off w/ 0% til Nov 5
    • Our "sticky post" mission to find the best state incentives is not yet completed, but some of us are thinking at least one Northeast state might be as high as $7500 state incentive
    • Keep in mind, for 2012 PiP is only offered in certain states so you may need to make a pilgrimage to a state that sells PiPs. Be sure to call ahead before you make the pilgrimage, I don't know much about out-of-state car purchasing.
    I am impartial observer, just having fun with this, not even looking for a PiP (but may start looking if the cost gets any lower). I am concluding the slow Plug-in/EV sales is partially related to lack of knowledge of $2500 federal + state + utility incentives. Even many dealers seem clueless on it, and may be turning away buyers by erroneously advising that there are no more gov't incentives.

    If buyers have a chance, give us your understanding of PiP incentives in states we are missing, and we will try to post for all to benefit. It helps a lot if we have first-hand interpretation/verification of incentives from Prius PiP buyers. We can all read the DOE listed incentives for all of the states, but it is hard to boil it down for PiP without some feedback.

    I will probably ask the Moderator to change the thread title to "....Incentives for Plug-In Prius" because that seems to be where we are heading with this sticky.
     
  14. Satch

    Satch Junior Member

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    Out of State purchasing can be tricky, because some dealers are not used to it. Basically, they have to calculate the sales tax rate from your home state, apply that to your beautiful new PIP, then send the sales tax $$ to your state. I had to make sure my dealer did this, they had no clue about it.
     
  15. Satch

    Satch Junior Member

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    Well it says, " The value of the tax credit is 35% of the vehicle purchase price or 50% of the vehicle conversion cost, up to $7,500". If you add that to the federal tax credit, it's, uh, a lot of money even to a country girl that can't add. Then if you add in the Toyota incentives and the 0% interest, it's a sweet deal on something that you already wanted anyway.
     
    moviebizman likes this.
  16. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    $17.5k is my calc.
    That is $27.5k (price some are getting this month - 2.5K Fed - 7.5K WV) = $17.5k PiP
     
  17. rickkop

    rickkop New Member

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    Syracuse New York morning paper today 2012 Plug in msrp $32985.00 3999. down $75 doc fee 12,000 mi 24 months $169/month. $3500. TFS rebate applied. Sorry if this is a dumb question but anyone know what TFS is? Thanks Rick
     
  18. El Dobro

    El Dobro A Member

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    Toyota Financial Service
     
  19. rickkop

    rickkop New Member

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    Thanks, I should have know that. I mean I do send them a check every month.
     
  20. Adam Leibovitch

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    How much are people planning on claiming for the federal tax credit? I see on Toyota's website the wording "the tax credit is confirmed to be $2500", but in the paperwork it says an extra $417 is allowed per kwh of battery. Rounded down to 4kwh, that is another $1,668 that PiP buyers are fairly entitled to, right?

    Anyone have "confirmation" or a better source than the ones listing only $2500 fed credit?