My return is calculating $0 for my electric vehicle charging station, I should qualify as far as I can tell.

[rgonyer]

I spent about $3000 on an EV charge station for my new EV. Form 8911 says I should be entitled to up to $1000 tax credits (30% of $3000 would be $900 for me), but TurboTax says it's $0. Am I doing something wrong? It did properly give me my $7500 credit for the EV itself.

Thanks!

[AnnetteB6]

There are a couple of things that can cause the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit to be reduced to zero.

First, the credit is non-refundable and you must have a tax liability in order to take advantage of the credit.  Also, the calculation of possible Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is involved in the calculation of the credit and may reduce it to zero.  

There is a tentative minimum tax for AMT that is calculated in the background as your return is completed.  Form 8911 compares that tentative minimum tax to the net regular tax after certain other credits have been taken into account.  If the tentative minimum tax is greater than the net regular tax, then the Form 8911 credit is disallowed.  

Take a look at your Form 8911, lines 16, 17, and 18.  If line 17 is greater than line 16, then your personal credit for Form 8911 will be disallowed.  

[rgonyer]

So I believe I have found a bug in the software having to do with the charging station credit. My itemized deductions are very close to our standard deduction, but were just a bit less. When I entered the charging station info, the software said I had a $0 credit for the station since other factors disallowed the credit.

I carried along until I got to the point where the software said "The standard deduction is right for you!". Just to experiment, I clicked "Change my deduction", and changed it to Itemized Deductions. My refund went up by ~$900, even though it suggested I used the standard deduction. I went back through my forms to see what had changed since I selected Itemized.... and the $900 was now appearing for my charging station install. I wonder if the charging station credit is only showing up if you itemize, but that is not being factored into the total itemized amount that would put you over the standard deduction?

[AnnetteB6]

If you would be willing to share a diagnostic copy of your tax file, it could be helpful to examine the situation in more detail to be certain what is happening and whether anything needs to be reported to the development team.  The diagnostic file will not contain personally identifiable information, only numbers related to your tax forms.

To do so, follow the instructions below and post the token number along with which version of TurboTax you are using (Online or CD/downloaded and which edition) in a follow-up thread.

Use these steps if you are using TurboTax Online:

• Sign in to your account and be sure you are in your tax return.
• Select Tax Tools in the menu to the left.
• Select Tools.
• Select Share my file with agent.
• A pop-up message will appear, select OK to send the sanitized diagnostic copy to us.
• Post the token number here. 

If you are using a CD/downloaded version of TurboTax, use these steps:

• Select Online at the top of the screen.
• Select Send Tax File to Agent.
• Click OK.
• Post the token number here.

@rgonyer

[rgonyer]

Token 949835

CD/Download Version, Turbotax Deluxe

Thank you!

[AnnetteB6]

Thank you for sharing your token number.

I was able to take a closer look at your return to see what is happening with regard to the charging station credit when you change from the standard deduction to itemized deductions.  

The change is actually happening in the calculation of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT).  As stated earlier, if your tentative AMT is greater than your 'regular' tax, then the charging station credit will be disallowed.  When you change from using the standard deduction to itemized deductions, the calculation of the AMT goes from being higher than your regular tax (disallowing the charging station credit) to lower than the regular tax so that you can claim the credit.

Without going into too much detail, the AMT is a parallel tax system that uses different deductions than the regular tax system.  As a result, Form 6251 AMT adds back certain things that were deducted in the regular tax system.  If you use the standard deduction, that amount is added back (Form 6251 line 2a) resulting in a higher AMT calculation.  If you use itemized deductions, then only the amount claimed on Schedule A line 7 is added back instead of everything claimed on Schedule A.  This amount is a lower number than the standard deduction and therefore the AMT calculation is lower.  This is what allows you to claim the credit.

All of these calculations are done in the background to see if you are subject to AMT or not.  Even if you are not subject to AMT, it can affect whether or not you are allowed to claim this credit.

So, in your case, your curiosity was a good thing, and claiming itemized deductions made a significant difference in your return.  

One last note, Form 8911 is not yet available to be filed.  According to the forms availability article, it is coming soon though.  

IRS forms availability table for TurboTax individual (personal) tax products

@rgonyer

[rgonyer]

Thank you very much for the excellent explanation. I am not very familiar with the AMT since I don't think it has affected us yet.

Having said all this, wouldn't it be better if TurboTax did that comparison so it could have recommended the itemized path forward? Had I not decided to click that button just as a curiosity, we would have settled for the lesser amount none-the-wiser.

Thanks again!

[luckml]

Why rgonyer last question was never answered?

The same issue is happening with 2023 calendar tax return. TurboTax, could you please answer rgonyer last post in this thread? 

[tangyuqing2002]

the same issue again this year. I won't be able to claim my EV charger credit using the standard deduction. And my far from needing to do the AMT tax. Can anyone from the TurboTax helping me get the credit back?

[RobertB4444]

Do you have enough tax owed to claim the EV credit?  It is not a refundable credit so if you don' owe enough in taxes it doesn't get used this year and rolls into next year.

@tangyuqing2002 

[tangyuqing2002]

I owe more than $40K in federal taxes so this is not an issue.

[MonikaK1]

Earlier in this discussion thread, it was explained that if your standard deduction results in Alternative Minimum Tax, it may disqualify you for the credit. Another user found that choosing itemized deductions, even though smaller, resulted in the credit being allowed.

Take a look at your Form 8911, lines 16, 17, and 18.  If line 17 is greater than line 16, then your personal credit for Form 8911 will be disallowed.  

See this help article for instructions to switch from the standard deduction to itemized deductions if this applies to your situation.

[tangyuqing2002]

the thing is Form 8911 is never included in my turbo tax filing if standard deduction is chosen. Additionally, I checked my final filing forms and the AMT is not hit, still several thousands away from it. Would you like taking a look of my return?

[Kathy Fitzpatrick]

If there is a personal non business credit it will show up on Schedule 3 Line 6.