Does leasing or financing have any impact on whether or not you're eligible for the Federal or State tax credit for electric vehicles?
The person or entity that actually purchases the car gets the credit. So if you finance it, you get the credit at tax time. If you lease it, the lease company gets it. But often, they will take part or all of the tax credit off the lease amount. Not sure how much GM is giving people back on the lease.
State incentives will likely have different rules regarding whether or not leasing qualifies. For the federal tax incentive, as Cypress said, that goes to the leasing company. Some do seem to offer a discount/rebate equal to the tax incentive, others may include it indirectly by giving a smaller payment than it would be, but not all do.
We leased the Bolt in Maryland and the dealer got the federal rebate but we received the state rebate.
1) The Federal incentive is NOT a rebate, but a tax credit. 2) The dealer did NOT get the tax credit unless they are the "finance company" that is underwriting the lease (do you send your payment directly to the dealer?). More likely your lease is thru GM Financial and they will get the Tax Credit.
The tax credit will go to the actual purchaser, so if you lease the car, it goes to the underwriter. Some underwriters will pass that back to you, and some won't. Check with the underwriter to see if they will do that for you. If you're financing it thru GM, then GM Financial will be the underwriter. I'm not sure how GM Financial handles tax credits, and it's possible they may not handle all leases similarly, due to sales incentives or whatever. But in no case should the local dealer be getting the tax credit for selling or leasing a car to you.
Your question is from five years ago, but it's still relevant for anyone considering electric vehicles and tax credits. Leasing or financing an EV can impact your eligibility for Federal or State tax credits, as the credit often goes to the vehicle's owner, which could be the leasing company or the individual who financed the purchase.
I wanna add that, if you're looking for expert guidance beyond EVs, professionals like the Mortgage Broker in Bury can assist with mortgage-related matters, despite the thread's age. Thanks for bringing up this topic, and feel free to ask if you have more questions!
