How to Take Advantage of Electric Car-buying Incentives
The first generation of plug-in, all-electric cars is about to hit the U.S. market to compete with gasoline- or diesel-fueled cars. To encourage consumers and businesses to switch to these energy-saving, non-polluting vehicles, federal, state and local governments, as well as electric utilities, have begun to offer financial and other purchase incentives. These include tax breaks, rebates, reduced electricity rates for charging the vehicles and benefits like preferential parking and carpool lane use. Nissan USA, distributor of the Nissan Leaf electric car, maintains an easy-to-search database of incentives that you can use to help figure the cost of acquiring and owning a plug-in, all-electric vehicle.
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Instructions
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Access the Nissan USA home page on the web (see Resources). Click "Buy" on the home page's left-side navigation menu to open the linked "Buy" page.
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Click the "Rebates and Incentives" circle, located at the 4 o'clock position of the "Buy" page spider diagram to open the page titled "Incentives Available". Input your ZIP code and click "Go".
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Scroll down to review the available federal, state and local incentives, which are listed in that order.
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Click the "Details" button next to each incentive to read a detailed description. Here you will also find instructions for how to file for, apply for, claim or otherwise take advantage of the individual incentives.
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Be on the lookout for expiration dates on the incentives, such as the $2,000 federal tax credit for electric vehicle charging equipment expiring at year-end 2010. Other incentives, like the federal $7,500 buying credit, will decrease year by year.
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Check with customer service or public relations staff at the respective institutions or entities offering the individual incentives if you have any questions after reading the descriptions on the website.
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Tips & Warnings
It's always a good idea to doublecheck incentives that will significantly impact your buying decision, pro or con. The U.S. Department of Energy also maintains a database of federal, state and local incentives, searchable by various criteria other than ZIP code. Use the site to zero-in on individual incentives, categories and sub-categories of specific interest to you. When in doubt, call a customer service representative.
Consult a tax accountant or the IRS for authoritative, up-to-date regulations before claiming electric-car buying incentives on your tax returns. TurboTax or other regularly updated tax preparation software programs can also keep you from taking ineligible deductions.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit tax forms image by Stephen VanHorn from Fotolia.com
