SAN DIEGO — We're working for your wallet to help you understand all the complicated tax breaks for electric vehicles.
Today Deputy Secretary of Energy, David Turk, was in San Diego and we asked him about it face-to-face.
Under President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act there are new requirements for the electric vehicle tax incentives and it's can be complicated to navigate.
Turk stopped at San Diego’s South 8 Technologies to announce that San Diego-based Tyfast Energy was one of ten companies to be awarded $42 million in grants to develop affordable and efficient electric vehicle batteries.
CBS 8 asked Turk about the tax incentives for electric vehicles.
“It is a little complicated in terms of this provision goes here, this piece here,” said Turk.
CBS 8 read the fine print, and there's a lot, it can be confusing to figure out what qualifies.
It depends on when the EV was delivered, what model, before the Inflation Reduction Act was passed or after, the cost, and if it was assembled in North America.
“Consumers don't need to navigate this themselves. When you go down to your dealer, the dealer will have the information and say you can get the tax credit for this model, but not this model, and make it as easy as it possibly can,” said Turk.
CBS 8 wants to help you go into the dealer armed with as much information and not miss out on any tax breaks when you file your return.
“These have a huge range of tax incentives,” said Turk.
CBS 8 went to the IRS website and found EV owners in 2022 and 2023, can qualify for up to a $7,500 tax credit, and now there's a $4,000 credit for used EVs.
“That will help make it more equitable. And as we get more EVs into the marketplace sold new, we'll have more used EVs and then we'll have that secondary marketplace,” said Turk.
There are also more EV models being added to the tax incentive list but as of now, it's only those that are assembled in North America.
The California Air Resource Board also lists all the EV tax incentives that may qualify for a credit.
“There will be more guidance coming out there for how consumers can take advantage of these credits,” said Turk.
These credits are a small piece of the large effort to make EVs accessible for all.
“We hope to have a market and hope to make sure that we have EVs for everyone,” said Turk.
Another new rule would allow EV owners in 2024 to take the amount of the tax credit as a discount at the time of purchase.