I've read about the forthcoming Federal tax credit for buying a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. It can be anywhere from $2500-$7500, depending upon the size of the battery pack. Here's my question: If I upgrade my 2008 Prius with one of the aftermarket PHEV kits, does that qualify me for the tax credit?
I answered my own question. Yes, the legislation does provide tax credits for PHEV conversion kits. as, below: The Hymotion battery is 5 kWh, so that's a $3000 credit.
Can I get a tax credit if I trade my 2005 Prius in for a 2010 model? Also, on the PHEV conversion for non-hybrid vehicles, what is the amount? I have a 4-runner that I might consider converting.
Here is what the IRS says. Conversion Kits (Section 1143): The new law also provided a tax credit for plug-in electric drive conversion kits. The credit is equal to 10 percent of the cost of converting a vehicle to a qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle and placed in service after Feb. 17, 2009. The maximum amount of the credit is $4,000. The credit does not apply to conversions made after Dec. 31, 2011. A taxpayer may claim this credit even if the taxpayer claimed a hybrid vehicle credit for the same vehicle in an earlier year. Here is a link.http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=206871,00.html
I would have liked the full tax credit of a mfg. built plug-in but they wanted the new cars built that way so modifications only get max of 10% which really does not off-set the high Lithium cost.
Federal credit is 10%, Oregon State credit is 25%, and I thought I heard that some cities were offering a municipal tax credit as well. Make sure to check all three.
Just be sure to calculate the Federal credit before you base a purchasing decision on it. I found out the hard way (after performing various computations) that with the old credit back in 2007 the Government's promises sounded as hollow as those spoken by a used car salesman. Talk about bait and switch! I felt ripped off by the IRS, even more so than normal.
Here is another IRS link to a page titles "Vehicle Credits" that has not been mentioned. On that page it states
And for those late night readers, here is a link to Public Law 111-5 that talks about the conversions. (It's a 407 page pdf.) Specifically see Section 1143 and 30D for the fun details about conversions.
Ok Guys I'm confused is there or is there not a $2500.00 Federal Tax Credit for calandar year 2010 if you install an Engineer 4Kwh conversion kit? I just purchased a 2010 Prius III
Reviving an old thread here: OK I have a question: I had a Hymotion conversion done on my 2006 Prius last year. Looking at the quote below I thought I would qualify for the federal tax credit: "New plug-in conversion credit. A new plug-in conversion credit of 10% of the cost of converting any motor vehicle (new or used) to a qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle. The maximum credit is $4,000 per vehicle. This credit is claimed on Form 8910, Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit, and applies to property placed in service after February 17, 2009." I put in red italics the part that apparently disqualifies me - I tried to file my federal taxes electronically and got a rejection saying that Year of Vehicle cannot be before 2009. By "property" above it now appears it means the vehicle, not the conversion kit (or the converted vehicle). Is this how everyone else interprets this? The blue highlighted section seems to suggest that any converted vehicle qualifies, and I thought it meant any year vehicle qualified as long as the vehicle was converted - i.e. "placed in service" after Feb. 2009. Thoughts anyone?
Well, as a follow up to my earlier post today regarding the federal tax credit for a PHEV conversion, I contacted the IRS to inquire about why my return was rejected. While the person I spoke with couldn't give a definite answer he agreed that it appears a conversion on a 2006 model vehicle should apply, but he wasn't able to find out anything definite while I was on the phone. They wrote it up to be researched and will be getting back to me in the next 15 days he said. He speculated that it might have something to do with filing electronically and that it's getting kicked out when it shouldn't be - certain tax credits dealing with the Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit on form 8910 do only apply to vehicles for model 2009 and later, but whether the PHEV credit is only good for that is what is in question. If this is the case then it would appear that only a very small number of people would qualify - only PHEV conversions for people owning 2009 and 2010 vehicles - hardly seems like it would be worth the effort to make a credit for PHEV conversions if it only applied to such a small niche. So I will wait to see how it works out. I'll post again when I get an answer... meanwhile if anyone else has any experience with getting or not getting the credit (especially on a model year vehicle older than a 2009) I'd be interested in hearing about it.
That's like catch 22. As I recalled, in Florida the only PHEV conversion kit that qualifies for the rebate is the Hymotion. The only Prius that Hymotion works on is 2004 to 2009. The only vehicle that qualifies for the rebate is the Prius that's bought new after Feb 17th 2009. Therefore pretty much no Prius will qualify for the PHEV conversion credit.
Well, I know you're right about the first two points - Hymotion was the only system that qualified (at least for the state rebate), and the Hymotion works for 2004-2009, but the last item is what I'm questioning. On the Hymotion website there is a link to the IRS section dealing with the PHEV conversions. The specific section in that page is section 1143 which is worded a little differently than the section I quoted in my first post - it says: Conversion Kits (Section 1143): The new law also provided a tax credit for plug-in electric drive conversion kits. The credit is equal to 10 percent of the cost of converting a vehicle to a qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle and placed in service after Feb. 17, 2009. The maximum amount of the credit is $4,000. The credit does not apply to conversions made after Dec. 31, 2011. A taxpayer may claim this credit even if the taxpayer claimed a hybrid vehicle credit for the same vehicle in an earlier year. Notice that this section 1143 deals ONLY with conversion kits, so I still think it is reasonable to assume that when it says "and placed in service after Feb. 17, 2009" that it is referring to the conversion kit being placed in service in the vehicle. There are two whole separate other sections that deal with the vehicles themselves - 1141 and 1142. Since section 1143 deals with the conversion kits and "the cost of converting a vehicle to a qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle", it would seem to me that the "placed in service" date would apply to the conversion kit (or the vehicle conversion date) rather than the date the vehicle was placed in service, but we'll see I guess when I hear something back from the IRS.
The OP should get his credit. Just file on paper. I see no requirement that the converted car be new or from a particular year.
You hit the nail on the head. I have no idea why my return got rejected electronically - but I did mail it in and got the tax credit. Just wanted to post this in case anyone else runs into this problem.
Being one who looked into the hymotion kit in Florida there are a few things to point out first is there is only one authorized place to have this conversion done and qualify for Florida tax credit and that is located in west palm beach. Second is for whatever reason the state of Florida will only recognize tax credit for 2006-2009 prius ? and lastly Florida has a rebate program which apparently does not have any money in it to honor the rebate