Buyer beware. When you are negotiating the lease, you need to have the capitalized cost reduced by the amount of the credit before you sign the lease. If you have signed the lease already and this was not discussed up front, you have to assume that the lessor is not going to give you the credit.
When negotiating a lease, it is very important you understand the capitalized cost which is the MSRP less all discounts less the federal tax credit. So here is the catch, some lessors will agree to return the money later when they get it. Let us say the MSRP is $33,000, you negotiate to $30,000. Now some dealers want to base on the Lease on $30,000 even if they agree to send the money back later. The best way to do it is to negotiate the capitalized cost to be $22,500 ($30,000-$7,500) and tell the lessor to keep the money.
Whatever you do, do not try and claim the tax credit on your IRS form. The IRS was not checking but has started cracking down on it after the Inspector General wrote a nasty note. It is very easy to check if you are the owner
......