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Federal Tax Credits for Pre-owned Plug-in Electric and Fuel Cell Vehicles

Federal Tax Credit Up To $4,000!

Pre-owned all-electric, plug-in hybrid, and fuel cell electric vehicles purchased on or after January 1, 2023, may be eligible for a federal income tax credit. The credit equals 30% percent of the sale price up to a maximum credit of $4,000.

The credit is nonrefundable, so you can't get back more on the credit than you owe in taxes. Also, you can't apply any excess credit to future tax years.

Note: Pre-owned vehicles purchased before 2023 don't qualify for this credit. However, new vehicles may qualify for other credits.

Vehicle must be purchased from a dealer, have a sale price of $25,000 or less, and must have a model year two years prior to the current calendar year.

Other requirements apply.

Attention: New Requirement!

In accordance with new IRS regulations, beginning January 1, 2024, Clean Vehicle Tax Credits must be initiated and approved at the time of sale.

Buyers are advised to obtain a copy of the IRS’s confirmation that a “time of sale” report was submitted successfully by the dealer.

Go to IRS publication 5900 to learn more!

Calculate Your Credit

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To qualify for the tax credit, the vehicle must have a sale price of $25,000 or less.

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Federal Tax Credits for Pre-owned Plug-in Electric and Fuel Cell Vehicles
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Year
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Source: Internal Revenue Service

Updated

Who Qualifies

You may qualify for a credit if you buy a previously owned, qualified plug-in electric vehicle (PEV)—PEVs include plug-in hybrids and all-electric vehicles—or fuel cell vehicle (FCV), including cars and light trucks, under Internal Revenue Code Section 25E.

To qualify, you must:

  • Be an individual who bought the vehicle for use and not for resale
  • Not be the original owner
  • Not be able to be claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return
  • Not have claimed another used clean vehicle credit in the three years before the purchase date

In addition, your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) may not exceed:

  • $150,000 for married filing jointly or a surviving spouse
  • $112,500 for heads of households
  • $75,000 for all other filers

You can use your modified AGI from the year you take delivery of the vehicle or the year before, whichever is less. If your income is below the threshold for one of the two years, you can claim the credit. Your modified AGI is the amount from line 11 of your Form 1040 plus:

  • Any amount on line 45 or line 50 of Form 2555, Foreign Earned Income.
  • Any amount excluded from gross income because it was received from sources in Puerto Rico or American Samoa.

Qualified Vehicles and Sales

To qualify, a vehicle must meet all of these requirements:

  • It must be made by a qualified manufacturer.
    Note that fuel cell vehicles do not need to be made by a qualified manufacturer to be eligible. See Rev. Proc. 2022-42 for more detailed guidance.
  • It must have a sale price of $25,000 or less.
  • It must have a model year at least two years earlier than the calendar year when you buy it. For example, a vehicle purchased in 2023 must be a model year of 2021 or older.
  • It must not have already been transferred after August 16, 2022, to a qualified buyer.
  • It must be for use primarily in the United States.
  • It must have a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds.
  • It must be an eligible fuel cell vehicle or plug-in electric vehicle with a battery capacity of least 7 kilowatt hours.

Note that vehicles listed on this page have been certified by the manufacturer to meet the gross vehicle weight rating and battery capacity requirements above.

The sale qualifies only if:

  • You buy the vehicle from a dealer. A dealer is a person licensed to sell motor vehicles in a state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any other territory or possession of the United States, an Indian tribal government, or any Alaska Native Corporation.
  • For qualified used PEVs, the dealer reports required information to you at the time of sale and to the IRS. Required information includes:
    • Dealer's name and taxpayer ID number
    • Buyer's name and taxpayer ID number
    • Sale date and sale price
    • Maximum credit allowable under Internal Revenue Code Section 25E
    • Vehicle identification number (VIN), unless the vehicle is not assigned one
    • Battery capacity
    • For sales after December 31, 2023, the amount of any transfer credit applied to purchase
    • A declaration under penalties of perjury from the dealer

For vehicles placed in service on or after January 1, 2024, the dealer must be registered with IRS Energy Credits Online, and the vehicle must be approved through Energy Credits Online at the time of sale.

See Used Clean Vehicle Tax Credit Checklist: How to qualify for the Used Clean Vehicle Tax Credit.

To claim the credit for vehicles placed in service before January 1, 2024, file Form 8936, Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit (Including Qualified Two-Wheeled Plug-in Electric Vehicles) with your tax return.

Starting January 1, 2024, credit eligibility and amount will be determined at the time of sale using the IRS Energy Credits Online website. The dealer will complete and submit the time-of-sale report online, and it will be accepted or rejected in real time. The dealer is required to provide you with a copy of the time-of-sale report, and you will need it to claim the credit.

If the vehicle qualifies for a credit, you have two options:

  1. You can claim the credit on your tax return for the year in which it was placed in service using Form 8936.
  2. You can transfer the credit to the dealer so that they can apply the credit amount to your final purchase cost. This essentially allows you to receive the benefit of the credit at the time of sale. The dealer will be reimbursed by IRS. See Clean Vehicle Credit Transfer: Information you need to provide to the registered dealer.

    You must still fill out Form 8936 reporting your eligibility for the credit and your decision to transfer the credit to the dealer.

    Note that if the vehicle qualifies but you do not qualify for the credit for any reason (e.g., your modified adjusted gross income exceeds certain thresholds), you must reimburse IRS for any difference in the credit for which you are eligible and the benefit you received from the dealer. Dealers are not required to verify the eligibility of the buyer at the time of sale. It is your responsibility to ensure that you meet all buyer requirements. The dealer is, however, required to provide the modified adjusted gross income requirements for your information.

For more information, see IRS updates frequently asked questions related to new, previously-owned and qualified commercial clean vehicle credits.

DISCLAIMER

The information regarding vehicle eligibility for the Qualified Used Clean Vehicle Credit represents information from the IRS (see Preowned Plug-In Electric and Fuel Cell Vehicles Eligible for Federal Tax Credits for 2023 and After). The information on this page should not be viewed as an official or legally binding document. Other requirements or exceptions may apply. For more detailed information, please consult an IRS tax representative and/or official IRS publications.

This website is administered by Oak Ridge National Laboratory for the U.S. DOE and the U.S. EPA.