Yesterday I was talking to my Toyota sales rep. We were discussing how it's taking longer than we expected for my car to get into allocation. I told him that I'm okay with it taking a long time, but that it's very important that the car be delivered before September 30 so that I can get the full $2600 tax credit.

My sales rep said that he was talking to another customer recently, and this customer said he/she phoned the IRS, and the IRS said that the 60,000 car wasn't sold until July, so the full tax credit should be good through the 4th quarter.

Can anybody confirm this? I thought the 60,000 car was sold in May or June, making the full tax credit only good through 9/30...

According to this:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/tax_hybrid_new.shtml
The credit drops to $1,300 on October 1st.

Per Toyota, they hit the 60,000 mark in May, so the full tax credit goes through September. See http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2006/highlander/tax.html. Of course, IANAA*.

*I Am Not An Accountant.

B. Goodman

Not sure about the IRS, but this link reports it will be reduced after September, 30th.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/14759490.htm

At least the sales rep may have been honest, if the customer really said that. :)

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/tax_hybrid_new.shtml shows that it goes down to $1,300 if the car is delivered after September 30.

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...158460,00.html shows that Toyota sold over 41,000 qualifying hybrids between January 1st and March 31 -- even if they only sold half that the next quarter, they still would have hit 60,000 by June 30.

The IRS didn't announce the 1st quarter results until June 7, so it may be mid-September before they officially announce whether or not Toyota hit 60,000 in the first half of the year. But fueleconomy.gov certainly thinks that they did.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/...eak-half_x.htm also says that it was reached (the 60,000th sold in May).

So I would definitely not believe that the sales rep's customer was telling the truth, unless I got confirmation from the IRS (something written, given all the evidence against you).

That was one reason why I was happy to go with a dealer that was able to make a trade with another dealer for a TCH close to the one I wanted; I didn't want to lose $1,300 if the one I wanted was delivered after Sept. 30.
-Scott

How long is your wait?

It should go into allocation "any time now". I'm #1 on the list for Mettalic Gray/Nav/Bisque. The guy doesn't think there will be any problem getting it by 9/30, but my wife is really getting antsy.

Does anyone know if you just file the paperwork next April if the purchase is before the deadline? I have been told both ways, just so you can prove the delivery date I would think you wait til your taxes are fugured. SK

According to http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/tax_hybrid_new.shtml, you just fill out form 8910 at tax time.

It is uncommon for the IRS to require paperwork to be filled out before taxes are due, so I would be very surprised if any paperwork needed to be filled out now, just so long as it is delivered ("placed in service") by September 30.

RSCOTT, Thanks, SK