I bought an electric vehicle on Dec 26, 2017. Is there any way I can claim the credit for 2018? Otherwise, can I re-file my 2017 taxes or something? (prefer 2018 tho...)

[sdpn]

I bought an electric vehicle on Dec 26, 2017. Is there any way I can claim the credit for 2018? Otherwise, can I re-file my 2017 taxes or something? (prefer 2018 tho...)

I did not have 7500$ of tax liability in 2017 (much less actually), but I do have more than 7500$ in tax liability for 2018.

Even though Dec 26 is just a few days before 2018, is it definitely forbidden to file for the tax credit in 2018? And if a 2017 return is my only option, is it simply a matter of mailing in a 8936(2017) form with form 1040X to the IRS?

Thanks so much in advance!

[JulieR · Accepted solution]

Unfortunately, since the purchase date of the vehicle was in 2017, you would need to amend your 2017 return in order to claim the credit. 

Go here and get instructions for amending that return.  Amended returns have to be printed and mailed in and take up to 16 weeks to be processed.    

One important note: Before you start the process of amending the return in TurboTax, be sure you have printed a copy of your original return or have saved a PDF copy to your computer. 

[sdpn]

Thank you very much.