Unless you’re making $750K a year, no Hybrid tax credit for you
What a disappointment for Hybrid gasoline electric car owners who happily assumed that they would be receiving a tax credit for their automobile purchases. According to a recent published story, the Hybrid tax credit may only be applicable to individuals who make $750,000 per year.
To recap, in 2005, Congress passed an energy bill with numerous incentives to encourage conservation. One of these provisions provided a tax credit, beginning January 2006, for purchasers of approved hybrid gas-electric automobiles. This tax credit can be substantial — up to $3,150 for the Toyota Prius, perhaps the best known hybrid.
Unfortunately, unless you earn more than $750,000 a year, you can’t be sure you will qualify for the full published credit for your vehicle. This “gotcha” applies even if you bought the car well before October, when the tax credit for Toyota vehicles began to be reduced, per the 2005 law, because more than 60,000 Toyota hybrids had been sold.
There’s a whole bunch of legal loopholes worth investigating. I think the main point here is that the tax credit that many Hybrid owners were looking forward to is nearly non-existant unless certain criteria are met.
