Factories Use Lease Programs to Extend EV Tax Credit
Automotive News reports Ford and General Motors have been working with dealers to secure an unknown number of $7,500 federal tax credits for EV shoppers before they expire.
AN’s Lindsay VanHulle says the factories are using their captive finance companies to preemptively make the first payments on units that will be leased to future customers. The scheme hinges on IRS guidance issued after the credit was eliminated as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“President Donald Trump signed legislation in July that eliminates the federal $7,500 tax credit, passed during the Biden administration, on new EV sales and leases as of Sept. 30. The IRS in August said the credit still can be claimed if a vehicle is ‘placed in service’ after Sept. 30, so long as the vehicle has been acquired with payment made,” VanHulle writes.
The credit was initially established as part of the George W. Bush administration’s energy policy, then expanded under former President Barack Obama, then extended and modified as part of then-President Joe Biden’s 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom reneged on a promise to fund a replacement credit for EV buyers in the nation’s largest market.
