As part of the Biden Administration's Inflation Reduction Act, we get a revamped federal EV tax credit. Now, there's a credit of up to $4,000 for used EVs purchased at a dealership, but there are many rules in the bill that make it difficult to determine which cars qualify.
Thankfully, Recurrent has many resources to help EV owners. In addition to the website's Used EV Tax Credit Guide and Battery Reports for Electric Cars, there's also a new tool that will help used electric car shoppers determine the eligibility of an EV before they buy it. Policy research and communications manager at Recurrent Liz Najman shares:
“I have spent hours poring over the tax credit bill with legal experts and the eligibility criteria can read like a puzzle. This eligibility tool makes it much easier. In about 30 seconds, a car shopper will have a good idea if a used EV is likely to receive a tax credit – no tax law background required.”
The new tool is very easy to use and should take the stress and hassle out of the situation. Anyone can head to the Recurrent webpage and enter the EV's vehicle identification number (VIN) and check it against the rules of the new tax credit. You may not even have to visit the dealership since the VIN should be listed online. If it's not, you can simply request it from the dealer.
For those unaware, the tax credit has rules and restrictions related to the vehicle and the buyer. There are income caps for EV buyers, and the car itself has restrictions surrounding "battery size, model year, vehicle seller and sale price."
According to Recurrent, only about 23 percent of the nearly 35,000 used EVs listed for sale in the US are expected to qualify for a tax credit under the new guidelines. While that number is expected to rise over time as used electric car prices come down, the US Treasury still has to work out final details related to the guidelines, so we'll have to wait and see how it all works out.
