I heard that there is a several-thousand-dollar credit being offered for buying a "green" car. I heard this was not a tax incentive but a direct credit. How can I find out more about this? Are "green" cars only hybrids? What about non-hybrids with high fuel efficiency?
The tax credit is an incentive offered to buyers of some alternative-fuel vehicles — most of which are, in fact, hybrids. The incentive can be a direct credit that ups your tax refund or, as you mention, a tax deduction that will lower your taxable income. It doesn’t, however, apply to every alternative-fuel vehicle; there are credits available on some cars and not on others. See the Cars.com article “Tax Credits and Cars” for an in-depth look into the incentives.
Credits are offered based on vehicle production numbers — a credit expires when the production quota is exceeded. Credits are no longer available on Toyota and Lexus vehicles, for example, because their tax incentives expired in September 2007 when their number of hybrid cars sold exceeded the quota.
The only non-hybrid with an available credit is Honda’s Civic GX, which runs on compressed natural gas and earns a $4,000 credit. What’s the catch? It’s only available in California and New York and, oh yeah, it runs on compressed natural gas, for which there are minimal refueling stations.
A list of currently available alternative-fuel credits can be found at the IRS website, IRS.gov.
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Also if you filed your taxes using the AMT you are not eligible for any "green" car discountss/credits/incentives.
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Try this site for Tax Credit information for Hybrid Cars.
www.hybridcar.com