USA Tax Time => Vectrix Credit

Having bought my Vectrix during the past year, I was a bit excited to start working on my taxes (imagine that!) as I was looking forwards to getting my extra 10% credit. Figuring the program I normally use (H&R Block At Home; formerly TaxCut) would offer me up the option to check a box marked "new electric vehicle" or some such, I was rather surprised to find such a feature lacking. Sure there was something about alternative fuel vehicles, but a quick review showed that this didn't cover purely electric vehicles. Curious, I did some digging last night and thought I'd share my findings to help any others out there who are also looking to claim this credit..

To begin with, if you're using Block at Home, it's pretty apparent that the form they claim they don't support (form #8396) is in fact the wrong one. Instead, they probably meant to refer to form 8936, a form which appears to have never been finalized (look it up on the IRS website and all you get are references to this form in other forms and a draft-looking HTML copy). Unfortunately, references to 8936 did survive and can be found on several other apparently finalized forms as a credit. Digging further, I found form 8834. This form does appear to be finalized (a PDF version exists), it's mentioned in all of the same places as 8936, and it appears to properly credit one for the purchase of a "qualified electric vehicle". The full instructions can be found on the PDF version found at irs.gov, but in brief, you fill out the form and enter the results in line 53 of Form 1040, checking box "c" in the process. I've verified this can be manually entered on form 1040 using Block at Home, but you will have to separately fill out and attach 8334. Sorry I can't verify if this is even a problem using any of the other tax programs..

Before I get myself in trouble, note that I'm not a tax professional and that you should probably run this past your accountant -blah- -blah- -blah-.. That said, a 10% credit on the purchase price of a Vectrix is nothing to sneeze at and would probably be enough to pay for your visit..