Low Income Tax Payer for the $7500 Federal Tax Credit

[sunysean]

What I'm concerned about it that I don't have a steady job lately.
Can I still get the whole $7500 Federal Tax Credit? If I pay only $5000 in taxes. or this program for only high income tax payer ?

thank

[PatrickZWang]

Hey There,

Unfortunately the tax credit is what they call "non-refundable" meaning that it can only reduce your tax liability to $0 for a given calendar year. (No carryovers allowed)

Patrick

[Bob Vreeke]

Well I guess they told you the truth on part of this. It is a tax credit.
However the $7500.00 credit only applys to those who use their Volt exclusively for business.
You and I only get a $2500.00 credit which will amount to about $400.00 on your tax return.
I'm #5 bought 2011 last april. Just file and this is what my accountant found out.
Chevy is looking for a law suit concerning false advertizing I think.
I was told by the dealer that it was a $7500.00 REBATE. WRONG.

[PatrickZWang]

Hey Bob,

Not sure of your specific tax circumstances, but it is a $7500 credit for individuals and businesses alike.

Patrick

[MrSustainable]

Hi Patrick,
Remember Becky and I (Guy) from the GM Volt challenge?

We are about to order our 2012 Volt and I'm wondering if the $7500 tax credit rolls over if you can't use it all in your first year tax filing because your income was lower than would account for the full credit.

We ran into this when we spent $20K 3+ years ago to install our 4.5KW solar array - it has take 3 tax filings to use up the $7K+ tax credit. We just filed our 2012 taxes and used up the remaining $1500 of the credit. I can't find any info on whether the form 8936 form does allow the credit to roll over to subsequent years. Do you have any insights?

[PatrickZWang]

Hey Guys! Long time no chat, I do remember you two.

AFAIK the credit does not roll over (it is considered a non-refundable credit). You need to do it all in one tax year or you lose any of the remaining benefit.

Hope that helps in your tax planning!

Patrick

[MrSustainable]

Thanks for clearing that up Patrick. Bummer! Perhaps this info will be helpful to other prospective buyers.

Due to the production hold we have limited options on what we can get in New England and will be "settling" for a base model blue Volt. (Becky wanted a red one - but red costs over $600 more and all the red ones available are loaded with options we can't afford). We're putting 50% down from an inheritance that I'm getting shortly and financing the rest.

I'm planning on blogging about the Volt. One thing I will be doing is installing a real-time energy monitor on the Voltec charging station. It will be interesting to see how much power it uses to heat and cool the battery once it is fully charged. Maine winters are pretty brutal with temps below 15F for more than 10 days in the winter and dipping below 0F many nights. We'll also be logging miles in electric and gas purchased etc so that we can educate others about the realities of ownership on a day-to-day basis. I'll post the blog site here when it's up.

FYI: Here's my Volt web page with lots of statistics and real-time charging charts: http://www.arttec.net/Chevy_Volt/index.htm
Also my blog about our Volt http://sustainability.arttec.net/?cat=4

[awallac1]

Lease! Lessor will get the tax credit and you'll have a low lease payment!

[Sin Nombre]

I agree . Leasing the Volt makes great sense because the leasing company deals with the tax credit and lowered my payment to an incredible $360 a month . Since I can run on mostly electricity , I will save gasoline around $90 compared to a very basic economy car and the cost of ownership will be about the same .

[Voltron]

So how does the tax rebate calculate out when you lease a Volt?