[Q] CVRP rebate related question

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occphv

New Member
Hello, gals and guys

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for sharing lots of helpful information which helped me a lot before getting my Clarity.

Question 1: Household Size
As I am trying to apply for the CVRP (Clean Vehicle Rebate Project) I have been reading their FAQ but still not sure about the "Household Size" and hopefully can get some help from the knowledgeable members here :p

There is a short description of the Household Size:
"For the purposes of CVRP, a household includes all family members or other unrelated persons, including the rebate applicant, who reside together and share common living expenses. Note: Roommates who do not have a lease separate from the applicant are considered part of the applicant’s household."

Currently, I am living in an apartment unit with my girlfriend, we are both listed on the leasing contract, would that makes us a household of 2?
Also, is it required to submit the "CVRP's Household Summary Form" along with the application?

"CVRP's Household Summary Form may be used to help with this calculation. For the purposes of CVRP, gross annual income includes that of the applicant and all other individuals in the household, ages 17 and older, regardless of whether or not they are related to the rebate applicant."

Question 2: Annual Income
Next question is about income, since I purchased the vehicle on Jan 2019, is that correct to use the income info on my recently received 2018 W2? Their FAQ mentioned using the "IRS Form 1040: Sum of lines 7–21" but I don't have the 1040 form as of now, do I have to wait when I file the 2018 tax?
Assume I am in the household of 2 (discussed in Q1), does that mean I have to combine girlfriend's annual income along with mine and use it as our household annual income?

I know there's a lot of questions and really thank you for taking your time to read (and respond!) to this thread. Hopefully this can also benefit other new applicants who also have similar questions.

Thanks again!
 
For people like me who have never heard of the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project, it's a California thing:
"California residents get up to $7,000 for the purchase or lease of a new, eligible zero-emission or plug-in hybrid light-duty vehicle."
https://cleanvehiclerebate.org/eng

It will be interesting to learn how many members of this forum have taken advantage of this benefit. With the federal EV tax credit, CVRP, and all the other California incentives, a new Clarity PHEV might end up costing less than a used Accord!
 
occphv said:
Hello, gals and guys

First of all, I would like to thank everyone for sharing lots of helpful information which helped me a lot before getting my Clarity.

Question 1: Household Size
As I am trying to apply for the CVRP (Clean Vehicle Rebate Project) I have been reading their FAQ but still not sure about the "Household Size" and hopefully can get some help from the knowledgeable members here :p

There is a short description of the Household Size:
"For the purposes of CVRP, a household includes all family members or other unrelated persons, including the rebate applicant, who reside together and share common living expenses. Note: Roommates who do not have a lease separate from the applicant are considered part of the applicant’s household."

Currently, I am living in an apartment unit with my girlfriend, we are both listed on the leasing contract, would that makes us a household of 2?
Also, is it required to submit the "CVRP's Household Summary Form" along with the application?

"CVRP's Household Summary Form may be used to help with this calculation. For the purposes of CVRP, gross annual income includes that of the applicant and all other individuals in the household, ages 17 and older, regardless of whether or not they are related to the rebate applicant."

Question 2: Annual Income
Next question is about income, since I purchased the vehicle on Jan 2019, is that correct to use the income info on my recently received 2018 W2? Their FAQ mentioned using the "IRS Form 1040: Sum of lines 7–21" but I don't have the 1040 form as of now, do I have to wait when I file the 2018 tax?
Assume I am in the household of 2 (discussed in Q1), does that mean I have to combine girlfriend's annual income along with mine and use it as our household annual income?

I know there's a lot of questions and really thank you for taking your time to read (and respond!) to this thread. Hopefully this can also benefit other new applicants who also have similar questions.

Thanks again!
Click to expand...
You don't joint file with your GF, your house hold size is 1. If your annual income is higher than $150K, you will not qualify for the rebate.
 
Cool, thanks for the quick and efficient answer. Btw, what information you used when providing the annual income? W2 or 1040 Form?
 
occphv said:
Cool, thanks for the quick and efficient answer. Btw, what information you used when providing the annual income? W2 or 1040 Form?
Click to expand...

From the CVRP pages at https://cleanvehiclerebate.org/eng/income-eligibility and the FAQs at https://cleanvehiclerebate.org/eng/faqs, they define income as the sum of your federal 1040 lines 7-21 (basically gross income before adjustments), and best I can tell if selected they will review the most recent tax year that's supposed to be filed -- and that review may be as late as 90 days from now.

So, since by late April the 2018 filing date will have passed, you'd need to use the numbers that will be on that return. If 2017 would have met the requirements but 2018 won't, it doesn't sound like getting an extension will help *if selected for review*; they will delay the rebate until they can verify 2018. If the opposite is true (2018 qualifies but 2017 didn't), you can file your 2018 taxes early and request they use that even before April.

Quite complex...
 
JulianClarity said:
You don't joint file with your GF, your house hold size is 1. If your annual income is higher than $150K, you will not qualify for the rebate.
Click to expand...
I believe this to be incorrect advice.
Oregon is working on implementing the low/moderate income portion ("Charge Ahead") of their rebate program. Oregon looked at other rebate programs as a model. CA is the only other state with rebate levels tied to income, and one of the things they will implement differently is a more focused definition of "household" as CA has a much broader definition than Oregon wants.
There is no requirement for joint filing to be considered part of the same household.
The OP posted the rule which applies in their question (and also answered it):
occphv said:
"For the purposes of CVRP, a household includes all family members or other unrelated persons, including the rebate applicant, who reside together and share common living expenses. Note: Roommates who do not have a lease separate from the applicant are considered part of the applicant’s household."

Currently, I am living in an apartment unit with my girlfriend, we are both listed on the leasing contract, would that makes us a household of 2?
Click to expand...
Your girlfriend is a roommate who does not have a separate lease (you are both listed on the same lease), so indeed you are a household of 2 and both incomes will need to be considered (I'm assuming you can't prove that you maintain separate utility bills, cartons of milk, cereal, etc).

As general rule, the advice you get on an internet forum (mine included) is generally worth every penny you paid for it :)

Documentation of income is only required if you are selected for verification, in which case you would need to provide IRS form 4506-T which allows them to pull your most recent tax return directly from the IRS.
†† Only a portion of applicants will be selected for income verification. You do not have to submit proof of income unless you have been selected for income verification. For applicants selected for income verification and whose most recent tax year transcripts are not available, additional documentation will be required to verify compliance with current income requirements. Additional documents may include, but are not limited to, paystubs, bank accounts statements, business bank account statements, brokerage account statements and/or summary of benefits. ​
The rules are slightly different if you are applying for an increased rebate for lower income applicants.
 
DucRider said:
I believe this to be incorrect advice.
Oregon is working on implementing the low/moderate income portion ("Charge Ahead") of their rebate program. Oregon looked at other rebate programs as a model. CA is the only other state with rebate levels tied to income, and one of the things they will implement differently is a more focused definition of "household" as CA has a much broader definition than Oregon wants.
There is no requirement for joint filing to be considered part of the same household.
The OP posted the rule which applies in their question (and also answered it):

Your girlfriend is a roommate who does not have a separate lease (you are both listed on the same lease), so indeed you are a household of 2 and both incomes will need to be considered (I'm assuming you can't prove that you maintain separate utility bills, cartons of milk, cereal, etc).

As general rule, the advice you get on an internet forum (mine included) is generally worth every penny you paid for it :)

Documentation of income is only required if you are selected for verification, in which case you would need to provide IRS form 4506-T which allows them to pull your most recent tax return directly from the IRS.
†† Only a portion of applicants will be selected for income verification. You do not have to submit proof of income unless you have been selected for income verification. For applicants selected for income verification and whose most recent tax year transcripts are not available, additional documentation will be required to verify compliance with current income requirements. Additional documents may include, but are not limited to, paystubs, bank accounts statements, business bank account statements, brokerage account statements and/or summary of benefits. ​
The rules are slightly different if you are applying for an increased rebate for lower income applicants.
Click to expand...
^^^ This is CORRECT.

I read the same application form and I am in the same situation.
The income verification only happens if you are selected.

When I submitted the $1500 rebate online, the system did not flag me to submit income verification.
 
4sallypat said:
^^^ This is CORRECT.

I read the same application form and I am in the same situation.
The income verification only happens if you are selected.

When I submitted the $1500 rebate online, the system did not flag me to submit income verification.
Click to expand...
I was careless, and I did not notice that it says if selected for income verification.
Thank you guys, I will submit my application right now, instead of after finishing my tax returns.
 
I submitted my application in October. It was reviewed about 2 weeks ago and approved last week. Now I am waiting for my check.
 
Guys, thank you very much for the feedback.
As @DucRider said, I will file mine as household of 2, most likely will do it after we both filed our own 2018 tax, just to get more accurate number of the total household income.
I'm so glad I asked the question here, hopefully, this can benefit other Californians when they are going thru the same process.
 
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