How does $3,600 Tax Credit work ?

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sony3max

Active member
Joined
Oct 2, 2013
Messages
25
Guys, please help me to clearly understand about how the $3600 Tax credit works. I am expecting a small tax return amount for the year 2013, and my tax advisor told me that the $3,600 Tax credit WILL NOT add to the refund check. Is that true ? I thought that regardless of your tax refund status, you will be reimburse $3600 from Uncle Sam .
 
Assuming you purchased/financed the vehicle?

Check your bill of sale / contract. The federal tax credit should have been referenced on that to reduce the sale-price of the vehicle.

If you leased, it should've been referenced as a discount to the value of the vehicle.

In short: The dealer collects the incentives at time of sale and passes the savings on to you (the consumer).

If that did not happen, i'd phone the sales manager at the dealer you purchased from and ask about the rebate.
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Hmm, that's not my understanding.

The credit goes to the purchaser. If it is a lease, then the company who leases you the vehicle, takes the credit (and should reduce your lease cost.)

If you purchase/finance, the credit comes off your federal taxes for last year. I'm not sure why your tax advisor would say this didn't increase your refund. (But I haven't fully reviewed that tax law yet. I do expect it to increase _my_ tax refund…)
 
Cobra, I purchased & financed my plug-in. Unfortunately, the $3600 WILL NOT BE ON TOP OF YOUR REFUND. I checked with several tax advisors in Orange County, California; they all said IT WILL NOT BE INCREASE YOUR REFUND BY $3600.

Even the sale manager at the dealership also misunderstood about this Tax Credit, hel always said " You will get back $3500 from the goverment when you do your tax ". Yeah right, they will find a reason to reject your Tax Credit.

By the way, is there anyone get the Federal Tax Credit on top of the refund yet ?
 
I'm not sure I understand who 'they will reject your tax refund' is? The tax law allows you to claim the purchase of a PHEV as a tax credit. I haven't started my taxes yet, but I'm going to take the credit as allowed.

As usual, tax info is kind of painful to read.

http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Qualified ... 12-31-2009

The Honda specific approval, the credit amount is $3,626 for the Accord
http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Corporati ... MotorCoInc

Of course, your individual tax may vary, the credit is probably deducted from Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) or from your estimated tax, either way, it should contribute to your refund. Why did the tax advisors you talked to think it would not? What makes you think they know what they are talking about? ;)
 
it's a credit to help offset your tax liability. I bought my Honda in January of this year so I'll have to wait till 2015 to apply my credit.

make sure you apply for the CA rebate of $1,500.
 
I reviewed the tax forms a little. It is indeed a tax credit, meaning it is subtracted from the tax you owe.

So for sony3max, the question is, will you have $3600 of tax after all your other credits? If so, the reduction will add to your refund. If you don't still owe $3600, or if you have other 'personal credits' already, you won't get the whole $3600 back in refund (/tax reduction.)

If by saying you expect a small return this year, you mean you don't expect to pay more than $3600 in tax, then you would not get the full credit, unfortunately.
 
Yes a credit. But you can't get it twice. :)

And @Cobra, you are correct. If you purchase, you get ~3600 credit on your taxes (Federal).
If you lease, dealer should pass the savings on to you...

However the irony is...there have been some dealers actually taking ownership, and then selling as "new", but checking the box as "used" on the BoS.
In that context, they SHOULD credit you the 3600. Apparently early on they were not.
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rinthos":1ifkcypa said:
However the irony is...there have been some dealers actually taking ownership, and then selling as "new", but checking the box as "used" on the BoS.
In that context, they SHOULD credit you the 3600. Apparently early on they were not.
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Wow, really? That's kind of crazy. Unless it was a demo thing, because some dealers seemed to be holding their first PHEV and not selling it. If they did demos, they may have had enough miles they thought it should be sold as used. I'd hope the buyers knew what they were getting.
 
When I filled out a initial tax return here, my refund went up by the $3626 amount allowed by the credit. As long as you have tax to offset the credit against, your refund will go up.
 
Hopefully :) At least you won't run up against the phase out limit, as that is a large number of vehicles, much larger than it seems Honda is making of the PHEV Accord.
 
We purchased the 2014 Accord Plug in Hybrid new from a dealer in Feb of 2015 and are now trying to get the tax credit. The IRS is asking for the domestic distributor's certification. We don't know what that is or how to obtain it. We have talked with Honda of America with no luck. Has anyone else been asked to provide this document? Does anyone know what it is or how to obtain a copy?

I have also noticed that the link provided in previous post to the IRS website (http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Corporati ... MotorCoInc) is no longer working (404 error)? Does anyone have a copy of the website or the info it provided?
 
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