2006 Tax Credit

lost ALL to AMT.

just checked the numbers for "married filing separately" - I can get the full credit on one filing... but we end up paying more combined.

(Filing separately may help others through.)

 

Bought our car in May 2006 but getting a big "0" back due to AMT....

....would have bought the car even without the incentive....we love our Prius!!!!

 

I was pleasantly surprised. Ours was the first Prius refund our tax consultant had done... but she kept totalling things up and finally said "That's it! You get the full amount!!" That was great news. And we also got additional refund!

 

I got the full $3,150 back (purchased on 1/26/2006, after waiting 4 months so we could qualify for the tax credit). We paid sticker price of 24,044 for our Package 3, so our net cost is $20,894. That did make buying the Prius economical over the life of the car verses the $17 - $18,000 cars we were looking at (Matrix, Corolla, Camry and HHR).

 

Got the whole credit , no AMT although I ended up paying a thousand or so :angry: because of IRA distributions without enough tax withholdings.

 

What a total bait and switch. We received a big ZERO $$ tax credit on our Feb. 2006 Prius.

We are not subject to the AMT, but our "net regular tax" (line 15) is lower than our "tentative minimum tax" (line 16), so like many others we get no tax break.

We may not have bought the car if we had known this. Other than the terrible seats and stereo the car is just fine but we would have bought a much more comfortable and fun to drive diesel if we had known.

This flaw in getting a credit was not in any of the materials I read prior to buying this car.

Senators and representatives need to know about this. I hope others are contacting them.

 

Henry, Welcome to the site. I'm sorry to hear you are not happy with the car. Hopefully it will grow on you.

 

Jim,

As I said the car is fine overall. My wife put 36K on it in 12 months without any issues. We get 39mpg in the winter and 49mpg in the summer driving like a normal car. You can fit three kids in the back seat. All great things, but as many others have said here, the seats and sound system are terrible compared to the technical level of the car.

One consideration when purchasing the car for $24K+ was expectation of the $3K+ rebate. It just sucks to lose the expected $3,150. All the talk of a true "credit" was bs as far as I am concerned.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Henry V @ Apr 17 2007, 12:03 PM) [snapback]424618[/snapback]</div>

And, unless I'm wrong, if those three kids in the bck seat are yours you lost the $3150 right off the bat. We were also ripped off for the $3150 supposed credit, and that was with two kids and the ridiculous AMT calculation of the Tentative Minimum Tax when we didn't even owe it.

We even tried Jim's helpful suggestion of married filing separately, but that turned out no better.

It is a scam, and the funny thing is that people are going to start finding out about it when the hybrid credits are for American automakers (who the government is trying to help) and skip the purchase, while Toyota (who the government is trying to punish for being successful) snagged all the unsuspecting Americans.

 

I got $0 (zero).
I bought my Prius in Feb 2006.
My AMT was $3,200 which blew away the entire $3,150 I was originally qualified for.
Oh well, good thing the tax credit was not the only reason I bought it for.

-Adriano

 

We bought two Prius last year, in March and July.
Of the $6150 we still got a credit of about $5800.
Not the best, but we were happy about it!

 

We got about 1/2 the credit of 3150 on our April 06 Prius. Worked out better than I expected, the AMT trap is not Toyota's fault nor is it an attempt to cause us not to get the benefit of the credit in this one case.

It is a RIP OFF by our legislators who have failed to adjust it to account for inflation over the past decade. It was designed to prevent the wealthy from not paying taxes, but what was wealthy when it is first implemented is now moderate means. In order to fix it they would have to increase the tax on the most wealthy portion of our country, those who have benefited from the current administration's tax cuts and who contribute mightly to re elect those who scratch their backs.

By the way I love my fully loaded bright red car. Had it shortened about 6 inches in December, but the collision shop and my dealer fully restored it to like new condition. It then sat for two months while we traveled the US in our motor home. All I did was turn off the smart key. Upon returning home I turned the key back on and drove off.

xctraveler

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(xctraveler @ Apr 17 2007, 04:16 PM) [snapback]424971[/snapback]</div>

You have to be in the top half or so of wage earners to trigger the AMT, and most of the people complaining about it are those that are really in the top 20% ... above about $88,000 "household" (combined) income. Its a complex tax scheme that the Republicans tried to do away with, but were blocked. Only a few million tax payers pay it now, but that will grow to a lot more if it isn't fixed.

The AMT says you should pay about 28% of your income in income taxes because you are among the wealthiest of wage earners. It isn't indexed to inflation, but I'll bet the people complaining here earn more than the median household (combined) income of about $50,000.

Like the phrase from Sixth Sense: "I see rich people. Some of them don't even know they are rich."

 

Just to be clear. Many of us that lost all or part of our supposed "credit" ARE NOT subject to the AMT on our taxes.

The AMT only comes into play because you use the AMT worksheet to calculate your "tentative minimum tax" (line 16) on the hybrid credit form.

Legislators need to hear from us all.

I wonder if all the oil companies with net profits in the tens of billions last year have to factor in their "tentative minimum tax" when they get their tax incentives????

 

100% Tax Credit ($3150) and the CA HOV stickers made this a GREAT buy in 2006! I love my Prius, but I also love my other gas guzzling cars too, but none of them have saved me any money. Only the Prius has done that!

 

So I purchased the Prius recently and I'm wondering if I'll be eligible for the $787 tax credit. I'm clueless when it comes to taxes but earn (filing taxes as single) nowhere near $88k. Under what circumstances will I be unable to claim my $787 back in my 2007 1040 form?

Thanks

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ystasino @ May 14 2007, 05:28 PM) [snapback]441968[/snapback]</div>

The best estimate is to use your 2006 tax software and plug in your expected 2007 figures (or just use 2006's). If you need free software go to www.taxact.com. The Cliff's Notes answer is to look on page 2 of the 1040. There is an indented section of other credits. If you have amounts there you probably won't get the full credit. If you search for threads dated Feb. to April containing 8910 or my logon you should be able to find a wealth of useful information (and not just from me).

 

I was a little disappointed by the rules of the tax credit. I wish I had known about the rules ahead of time. I surely would have still purchased the vehicle but I would not have carried the anticipation of a tax credit for so long.

Of the 3150, I got somewhere in the neighborhood of $700.

The reason I did not get the rest is because I have childcare expenses and mortgage interest. They pretty much wiped out most of the credit. Do any of you who got 100% have kids in daycare and/or a mortgage? Maybe I just need a more clever tax professional...

I wrote to my US congressperson about it but the reply I got back was a form letter about how he supports our troops and is fighting terrorism. I think I triggered an auto responder when I wrote "gas" or "economy." I wish I felt more represented in this republic.

On the plus side, though, as gas prices climb ever higher I am ever moreso on the winning end of the deal. I love my prius. 25,000 miles. Averaging 52.2mpg. I figure fuel savings alone is paying a quarter of my car payment.

Brian Herbert Withun

 

No kids. No mortgage.

Brian, if you filed a joint return did you try filing seperately and splitting the deductions & credits? This may take some playing around with the numbers.