The U.S. Department of the Treasury proposed a rule on Friday that would make it easier for consumers to get a $7,500 tax credit for new electric vehicles and a $4,000 credit for used EVs.
What that means: All eligible EV buyers — and not just a subset of eligible, typically wealthier consumers — would get an upfront discount of up to $7,500 for new cars and $4,000 for used cars, experts said."I think it is a real game-changer for all consumers to be able to get that rebate at the point of sale," said Jamie Wickett, a partner at law firm Hogan Lovells which specializes in federal tax policy and energy."Immediately, a $50,000 vehicle becomes $42,500.
Consumers will get that point-of-sale discount by transferring their tax credit — the new clean vehicle credit or the used clean vehicle credit — to a car dealer. The car dealer can then pay the credit's value back to the consumer. The IRS expects to issue payments back to the dealers within 72 hours, Treasury said.
Buyers also must file an income tax return for the year in which the vehicle transfer election is made.