California Differences - Clean Vehicle Credit
California has no equivalent tax credit.
Caution: Business vehicles where the credit is taken for federal purposes will have a different CA basis since there is a federal basis adjustment in the amount of the credit but no CA basis adjustment.
California Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP)
All funding for CVRP has been reserved and the program is no longer accepting new applications. Applications submitted during the standby list period are not guaranteed to receive a rebate. CVRP is not receiving additional funding and will not reopen to accept new applications.
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If applied for on or before September 5, 2023: The rebate amount was reserved when applied for. Applicants will receive their rebate if they meet all requirements and submit the correct supporting documents within the required time frame.
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If applied for on or after September 6, 2023: The application was placed on a rebate standby list. Payment of rebates for applicants that are placed on the standby list is not guaranteed and are dependent upon available funding.
Applicants and continue to login and check the status of their application to ensure they are aware of any further action needed to complete or update their application. Applicants are provided ten days to correct issues with their application before the application is automatically cancelled.
Taxation of Clean Vehicle Rebates
Although the California Center for Sustainable Energy, which administers the CVRP, does not issue 1099s to consumers who receive the rebates, that doesn’t make the amounts non-taxable. Since the rebates are applied for directly from the CVRP, and are issued separately from the purchase transaction, the rebates are not a reduction in the purchase price of the vehicle (which would have made them non-taxable). Therefore, for both federal and California purposes, the CVRP rebates are taxable income. If the program is modified so that the rebate directly reduces the cost of the vehicle, then it would not be taxable.