Solved

Tax credit advice

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
November 8, 2021
1 reply
0 views

I'm really excited about buying an electric car with the Build Back Better bill that's working its way through Congress now. The problem is that my house is super old and only has a 110 Amp breaker box installed. I don't want my car to trip the circuit every time I plug it in so I've definitely got to upgrade. My question is, can I use the 30% Federal Tax Credit for Federal EV Equipment to upgrade my home electrical amperage? Reading the IRS Form 8911, it sounds like I'm able to because it would have a circuit used exclusively for charging the car. If anyone here can give advice on this I'd really appreciate it. This is the only thing holding me back from buying an EV.

Best answer by Opus 17

You are asking whether the cost to upgrade the entire home electric service is includable as part of the cost for installing an EV charging point. That's a problem because the law (26USC §30C) refers to section 179 for the definition of qualifying property, and section 179 was repealed for other reasons, making it hard to look up the actual definition of qualifying property. In other situations, sometimes only the installation cost of the qualifying item counts, and sometimes, you can include the cost of other upgrades needed to install the qualifying item, so there is no "usual rule" to fall back on, and the instructions for form 8911 don't provide an explanation for line 1 (the allowable cost).

Therefore, I can't find an authoritative answer as to whether the cost of upgrading the entire home's amperage can be included in the installation cost of the charge point for purposes of the tax credit.

O

Opus 17Answer

Employee

You are asking whether the cost to upgrade the entire home electric service is includable as part of the cost for installing an EV charging point. That's a problem because the law (26USC §30C) refers to section 179 for the definition of qualifying property, and section 179 was repealed for other reasons, making it hard to look up the actual definition of qualifying property. In other situations, sometimes only the installation cost of the qualifying item counts, and sometimes, you can include the cost of other upgrades needed to install the qualifying item, so there is no "usual rule" to fall back on, and the instructions for form 8911 don't provide an explanation for line 1 (the allowable cost).

Therefore, I can't find an authoritative answer as to whether the cost of upgrading the entire home's amperage can be included in the installation cost of the charge point for purposes of the tax credit.