Does the one year lease for the mini e qualify for the $7500 federal tax credit?

 

I don't expect any tax credit because it is a 1 year lease. There are recapture rules in the new law which have not been defined yet. I'm a tax accountant for the last 30+ years and this is what I see.

 

greg - in one of the other thread topics you'll see a post from me with the answer from the Mini E West Coast rep - the short answer unfortunately is no. I think the only ones of us getting a tax break are the NJ folks, where there is no sales tax on e-vehicles.

 

I believe you are referencing the statement that only the lessor gets the $7,500.00 credit. That was correct prior to the economic stimulus bill which does now give it to the lessee. The problem is the short duration of the lease, 1 year, and the reference to recapture rules, not yet definied.

Bottom line, don't sign the lease if you are expecting a credit.

 

I think the best advice, already given, is to not count on the credit. But I don't think we should assume it will not apply. It may. If you take a look at the bill itself, the language is arcane, and as previous posts in other threads have mentioned, a lot depends on how the IRS issues the regulations and forms.

We could still hope for some credit... I am. But of course, do not depend on it.

 

If you want a tax credit, you have to ask for it. How do you think that bill was written in the first place? Even though there are only 500 of us, we need to make our voices heard.

"What do we want?"

"A tax credit!"

"When do we want it?"

"Now!!"

If I may show my age, anyone remember this?:

"I'm just a bill.
Yes, I'm only a bill.
And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.
Well, it's a long, long journey
To the capital city.
It's a long, long wait
While I'm sitting in committee,
But I know I'll be a law someday
At least I hope and pray that I will,
But today I am still just a bill.

Well I got this far. When I started, I wasn't even a bill, I was just an idea. Some folks back home decided they wanted a law passed, so they called their local Congressman and he said, "You're right, there oughta be a law." Then he sat down and wrote me out and introduced me to Congress. And I became a bill, and I'll remain a bill until they decide to make me a law."

Time to write a letter.
Boxer, Barbara - (D - CA)
112 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3553
Web Form: boxer.senate.gov/contact/email/policy.cfm

Feinstein, Dianne - (D - CA)
331 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3841
Web Form: http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/i...tactUs.EmailMe

Lautenberg, Frank R. - (D - NJ)
324 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-3224
Web Form: lautenberg.senate.gov/contact/index1.cfm

Menendez, Robert - (D - NJ)
528 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-4744
Web Form: menendez.senate.gov/contact/contact.cfm

And if we can't get a Federal credit, maybe we can get a state credit:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-558-3160

Governor Jon S. Corzine
The State House
P. O. Box 001
Trenton, NJ 08625
(609) 292-6000

 

I read the stimulus bill. The lease will not allow the lessee to take any income tax credit. As was said before, NJ does not charge sales tax on that lease. But NY and CA do.

 

Under the Stimulus bill leasing is OK. The problem is in the recapture rules on a 1 year lease.

 

We shouldn't count on it, but by next April we'll have better information.

If I had to decide today, I'd take the credit. But I'd keep the $7500 in the bank, just in case.

 

To Chas' point I believe the recapture rules are supposed to be released in May. An end user leasing a car does qualify, and the MINI as a car qualifies. An earlier version of the bill specifically called out as a recapture example "a lease which is shorter than the economic life of the vehicle," so that's where the program would potentially not qualify.

Once the rules are released I am hoping that MINI will help solicit an opinion from the IRS on whether the program qualifies and answer questions such how the "economic life" of an experimental vehicle is measured if that indeed turns out to be relevant. Something we should ask about at the MINI E event I think.

 

Someone with the handle jeffurenaim posted a comment on Peter Trepp's blog (he got the first MINI E) saying his accountant said he's good on the tax credit... I'd love to hear more, but clicking on the handle and you get "That user not on Bebo yet" or such...

I'm keeping some hope up in the background as we proceed with our installs and (soon!) deliveries.

 

What is Schoolhouse Rock? Alex, Old School Learning Aids for $400 please.

 

Tim, there is some discussion of this in the Facebook "Mini E" group. If I understand correctly, in order for us to claim the credit, BMW would have to give up their claim to it. Jeff, the poster on Peter's site you mentioned, would like to approach BMW about doing just that, but I don't think anything has been done yet.

 

You must be under 30 years old. You can Google 'Schoolhouse Rock' for complete details, but basically it was a series of short videos that taught basic educational subjects through very entertaining songs. It was played between the Saturday morning cartoons.

So did anyone write their congressman and try to get the ball rolling? I'll admit I did not . (But I also lost interest when I dropped out of the program.)

 

Dude, he was answering with a question, the way one would on Jeopardy! Alex is the host of the show.

 

Doh! Now I get it. Where's the 'slap head' smiley?

 

Funniest part is that I am under 30 .

 

I KNEW you had to be under 30! Because those of us who grew up getting brainwashed by Schoolhouse Rock (e.g. The preamble to the US Constitution is now flash-burned in my brain from it, even though I'm Canadian!), we would never label it "old school"! It's the ONLY school!

P.S. A couple years ago my wife and I bought the complete DVD collection - mostly for the nostalgia, but our young daughters think they're pretty . . . umm . . . groovy.

 

So the IRS was supposed to have a May revision but it still isn't out. Has anyone noticed when the IRS actually posts the changes, is it something that will happen this month or in October and they will just call it the May Revision.

 

Unfortunately it looks as if the revision has been delayed until July:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8834.pdf

 

Grrrrrrr to the IRS.

 

We just need BMW Financial as the owner of the car to sign over the tax credit to the lessees. We all need to ask them to do this. Then we all can do what we want with respect to filing for it. BMW stated to me that they are not interested in claiming it for themselves. Until the new rules for form 8910 come out no one will know if we qualify or not. But there is a lot of political pressure to put plugin cars on the road and so I think we have a good chance at it.

 

The 2009 tax credit is unlike previous tax credits for alternative fuel cars. It is only for the purchaser or lessee. BMW is not permitted to claim the credit. Not sure if this link will work but here is the text:

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.1.enr:

You will need to scroll way down to find the link for the credit.

Note that there is a specific exception called out. If you sell the car outright (leases don't count) to a tax exempt entity, then the seller can take the credit. That is the only exception I see and it would not apply to BMW either. Of course other interpretations are welcome.

 

Both BMW and My accountant acknowledge that the tax credit would have to be signed over. BMW is saying it would not apply to our leases because of the term of the lease. But that may not be true. Have to see the new rules.

 

FYI, I've talked to the IRS, MINIUSA and the California Air Resources Board about this issue. They all agree that the end users should get the credit.