Get electric vehicle tax credit while married in 2023, how to determine AGI base for 2022 and 2023

[ryoman81]

Hey, I am file my tax return for the tax year 2023. It's bit tricky.

- We got married in mid 2023;

- We bought a Tesla Model Y in 2023 (eligible for $7500 tax credit);

- We are now filing married jointly tax return together.  

In 2023, our joint AGI is over $300k which is not eligible.

In 2022, we were not married and I am >$150k, my spouse is <$100k, which seems one is eligible but the other one is not. 

Based on IRS description: "You can use your modified AGI from the year you take delivery of the vehicle or the year before, whichever is less. If your modified AGI is below the threshold in 1 of the two years, you can claim the credit.", 

looks like my partner is eligible because his AGI is below 150k in 2022. But we are filing together in 2023. How do we determine if we are eligible or not???

[AnnetteB6]

Going through TurboTax will help to determine your eligibility.  Be sure that you have entered all of your income for your 2023 tax return.  Then, as you go through the credit section to enter the details for the Energy Efficient Vehicle Tax Credit, TurboTax will determine if your 2023 modified AGI meets the qualifications. 

If it does not, then there will be an additional screen asking you to enter your 2022 tax return information to qualify based on your prior year information.  If you do not get that additional request for information, your current year return is under the maximum limit.  

There will not be a place within TurboTax to enter a different filing status for the previous tax year, and there does not seem to be a provision for that information on the actual tax form or IRS instructions either.  Be sure that you are entering the information from the previous year return for the eligible individual.