new Prius -- tax credit document?

I know it seems a little odd, but there is not document to obtain. the dealer will report your information, and it will go in some big database somewhere... when you file your taxes, you'll mark down your credit, and the some pencil pusher somewhere will check it against the database... if there's trouble, all you would need is your paperwork with your purchase date to prove that you purchased the car within the window for the tax credit. (the credit applies to anyone who buys the car prior to or during the quarter after toyota hits their limit)

 

Well, I bought before I was able to get in on all of the tax credit action, but here is what Toyota says about the tax credit info, in case you haven't come across it yet:

http://www.toyota.com/prius/tax.html

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mcsj @ Jun 30 2006, 08:53 AM) [snapback]279111[/snapback]</div>

I think the text on that bankrate.com Web page is either poorly written and thus subject to misinterpretation or just plain mistaken. As I read the relevant documents, there is no requirement that your dealer give to you a document that says anything at all about your specific vehicle's qualification for the tax credit.

If you follow that link to the page on bankrate.com, you see several paragraphs headed "Necessary documentation". There is a link in the second paragraph sending you on to an IRS document named "Notice 2006-9". Near the beginning, Notice 2006-9 reads

Further down, on its page 6, the document continues:

There are four requirements that the purchaser must meet, and none of them has to do with possessing a document from the dealer about the specific vehicle purchased. Toyota is required to certify to the IRS that its Prius vehicle of certain model years meets the requirements. I see no requirement that either Toyota or its dealers are required to certify to any individual purchaser that any specific Toyota Prius auto meets the requirements.

But then I have not read every word of that IRS document. Maybe someone reading this post has the time to do that!

(Note: Section 5.07 appears to pertain to situations where the manufacturer messed up and either it or the IRS finds that in fact vehicles of that model and model year do not qualify.)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Jun 30 2006, 08:16 AM) [snapback]279092[/snapback]</div>

Maybe, maybe not. There is still a great deal about federal income tax filing that relies on the honor system. The IRS may not be able to detect an error or fraud on this item without doing an audit.

That is true.

Yes, it does, but that is not the whole story, so it is misleading to allow that statement to stand. Part or all of the credit is also available for purchases during the five calendar quarters following that "limit hit". The full credit applies during the calendar quarter after the calendar quarter in which the limit hit occurred, 50% of the credit during the next two calendar quarters, and 25% of the credit during the next two calendar quarters. In the case of the Prius (and other qualifying Toyota and Lexus hybrids), 100% of the credit applies through September 30, 2006, then 50% through March 31, 2007, and then 25% through September 30, 2007.