IRS Tax Credit misinformation?

I think they are pretty aggressive with the 0% interest financing.

 

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8936.pdf is the link to the IRS instructions for the credit. The pertinent part of the instructions: "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;"

If TFS chose not to pass the credit along to you, I'm sorry. They have to make money somewhere. It certainly isn't on a 0% interest rate.

OP can blame Toyota all he wants but the dealer isn't Toyota. Where is the best place to get Federal tax advice? The IRS and its publications. Research before buying. Don't believe everything people say because it is what you want to hear.

If you aren't happy with the terms you still have the Customer Satisfaction Survey.

For those who leased and filed or intend to file form 8936 here's something to think about. The form requires a VIN. The leasing company is going to file a form 8936. Do you believe the IRS will cross check the VIN submitted to see if there are duplicate filings? If they do, and they detect a duplicate are they going to ignore it? Are they going to disallow the credit & send a bill for the tax, interest, and penalty? What are you going to use as a defense? I don't understand English and didn't read the instructions isn't going to work.

 

I sympathize w/your situation but it sounds like you did everything in a hurry and didn't do your research.

I can't speak to what Dianne said, but it seems highly likely that she knew you couldn't get the Federal tax credit when leasing a PiP. I pointed to these posts your other thread:
No Fed Tax incentive if PIP is leased | PriusChat
PIP Lease Terms - Will Toyota Give Us a Fair Deal? | PriusChat (see replies that follow).

Given the confusion you caused at Nissan Leaf Rebate vs IRS tax Credit and Ca rebate program | PriusChat and your multiple threads across here and at MNL, perhaps some people misunderstood your situation, possibly by the use of incorrect terminology?

It does seem like a loophole, but the automaker/financing corporation (as it's written) doesn't seem obligated to pass the tax credit onto the person leasing.

As I think I posted as a response to one of your threads, Tony Williams discovered a similar thing going on w/the Rav4 EV: My Nissan Leaf Forum • View topic - Official Toyota RAV4 EV Thread.

 

maybe you got a better deal than you're thinking. isn't the important thing in a lease the downpayment and monthly payment?

 

If you feel you were decieved you should contact TFS and see if they can make it right. If TFS will not make it right then you can contact your state's consumer protection agency since these businesses are registered and licensed by the state in which they operate.

 

Sorry if I offended and this might offend you even more...

If you hadn't been in a hurry, you'd have found this gotcha thru research and/or you'd have asked the questions you're asking before signing and leasing, not after.

Although this may not help your situation, besides filing a formal complaint (make sure they make a record of it) w/TFS, do it with Toyota Customer Care (Toyota Help). At least they'll have a data point in their database. If enough people hit this too, they might change their practices, put out bulletins, etc.

I can't speak to what happened, but given the posts I pointed to before, I think Dianne knew. I think there might've been some misunderstanding/miscommunication. I can't speak for the others. Miscommunication? They were misinformed? They lied?

To help future folks, I think there should be a single post sticky in the PiP area that's locked and contains the relevant text from PIP Lease Terms - Will Toyota Give Us a Fair Deal? | PriusChat and an explicit warning that you cannot claim the Federal tax credit on a leased PiP AND that any incentive Toyota provides on leased PiPs may be less than the $2500 Federal tax credit.

 

If your planning or considering a purchase of the vehicle at the end of the lease, you would be concerned with the residual as well.

 

I'm not so sure they're employees of Toyota. I believe that due to franchise laws, it's illegal for automakers to own dealers. I didn't really know about this until the Tesla complaints/lawsuits came up more recently. Google for franchise laws tesla own dealerships.

 

I think this is causing you most of your miscommunication issues. When you say purchase instead of lease, many people will think you are buying the vehicle, which would make you eligible to claim the federal tax credits.

 

you mean like this sticky at the top of this forum page?

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

granted, its not locked, but wjtracy does a pretty darn good job of keeping the OP updated with info

 

Well yeah, but I guess the paragraph re: PiP leasing maybe needs to be more explicit or something more explicit should be broken into a separate sticky. It might help to compare to GM's and Nissan's handling when leasing.

 

I am listening...pls let me know how we can improve Sticky.
I saw the posts by CWERDNA with the prior Toyota Rep answers so that is one thing we can include.
Please make a post to the sticky thread with leasing comments.
But I am thinking of changing the sticky title to Incentives for Plug-in Prius, becuase I do not know anything about Volt and Leaf, and as noted, I think our job here is PiP and Prius hybrid incentives.

Regarding this thread I don't know what to say, except this: quite a few a Prius Chat members have been reporting getting "malarky" from some dealers on various topics about PiP deal specifics. To my knowledge this is the first time we had a misunderstanding on getting the tax credits for lease. Anyway if buyers are uncertain they can read posts here or make a new post and we can debunk malarky. We are good at debunking malarky.

PS- According to Webster's it is Malarkey or Malarky...so don't give me any

 

Keep in mind that the leasing company is typically NOT the dealer or the manufacturer and each will have their own terms and incentives.

Toyota Financial Service
ALLY
US Bank

 

I just entered a 36 mo 12,000 mi/yr lease on base PIP this past Saturday (11/10/12) and salesman and finance guy BOTH tried to convince me Federal Tax Credit was only for me, not TFS. I laughed at them and made them read IRS document. Once they finally realized I was right, they reduced monthly lease amount accordingly. If I hadn't insisted, they would have gladly let me pay more. Then again, with the lease price they were quoting, no way would I have signed. In the end, my down payment and lease amount was in line with what a 2012 Gen 3 Model III could have been leased for. I was happy and I'm sure they didn't lose money on the deal. Then again, with $4,000 cash back maybe they did!

 

You might help folks understand the math if you could share your lease numbers on the PiP lease.

MSRP
Purchase Price
Capital Cost Reductions (lease cash)
Cash Contribution (down payment)
Trade in credit
Sales Tax
Fees
Rent (finance costs)
Monthly Payment (rent + depreciation + taxes)
Residual Value ( including mileage allowance like 36,000 miles)
Additional Mileage rate ($0.20/mile ?)

 

Don't have that info readily available right now but do know I put $3,000 down and OTD monthly fee including Gap insurance is $285. They started out at $344 with $3,500 down. Off the top of my head I know residual on my 2010 Gen 3 was $17,165 and when I compared vs PIP it wasn't much more ($17,650 I think). MSRP was $33, 307 incl Cargo and Floor mats, Special Color Blizzard Pearl and Wheel Locks.