I purchased my Tomberline E-merge 2 in March and have been following this potential tax break as it has evolved over the past few months.
1. In April, the IRS issued a statement summarizing the two possible tax credits available to taxpayers who purchase electric vehicles. Here is a link to that notice:
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...207051,00.html
The ARRA credit applies to many types of electric vehicles including two, three, and four wheel vehicles but is limited to 10% of the purchase price.
The second credit called the EESA credit is limited to certain four wheeled vehicles that qualify and is based on the kilowatt hour capacity of the vehicle. The base credit is $2,500 and can go much higher. But as noted in the statement, the IRS was in the process of developing guidelines for qualification.
It was the potentially lucrative amounts of the EESA tax credit that had all the NEV dealers (ParCar, Tomberline, GEM etc.) buzzing. But the jury was still deliberating as the saying goes.
2. Then at the end of June, the IRS issued Notice 2009-54 which “sets forth a process that allows manufacturers to certify to the Service that a particular vehicle meets the requirements of section 30 of the Code. Taxpayers purchasing such vehicles can rely on the domestic manufacturer’s (or, in the case of a foreign manufacturer, its domestic distributor’s) certification that both a particular make, model, and model year of vehicle qualifies as a plug-in electric vehicle under section 30, and the amount of the credit is allowable with respect to the vehicle”. Here is a link to that document:
http://www.irs.gov/irb/2009-26_IRB/ar07.html
Apparently Tomberline wasted no time in submitting the necessary documentation to the IRS on all their vehicles.
3. On August 14th the IRS issued the following letter to Tomberline asserting that the listed vehicles are qualified for the tax credit and in the amounts stipulated. Here is the link to that letter:
http://tomberlin.net/sites/tomberlin...dit-Letter.pdf
Tomberlin also has a short FAQ sheet with answers to common questions regarding this:
http://tomberlin.net/sites/tomberlin...ax-credits.pdf
Also, as far as I’ve read, the credit is not refundable and is not subject to the Alternative Minimum Tax.