I am only 16 years old and towards the end of the year i am expecting to get my first new car and i have decided i really want the mercury mariner hybrid the 25K price tag is acceptable but i want some of the optional features which woudl bring the price up to around 28-29K and my parents are going to spend about 20~K on my for my vehicle and i can come up with about 4-5K and the rest would have to be negotiated with my parents, but the tax rebate is what would really determine if can get the vehicle so how can i tell if my parents will get it, we arent rich so its not like my paretns will say o' well we dont apply we will pay for the rest, but then again we are not poor and i would think that the rebate would apply for those who actually need it, can someone offer insight into my proeblem of how to tell how much of the tax incentive i could apply for? or my parents could apply for?

Did your parents pay the alternative minimum tax this year?

I'd suggest they look at this years taxes and determine what credit they'd have gotten this year.

I'd also suggest that any parents that can afford to spend 20K on their kids first car are rich. My dad paid for the insurance on the car I bought completely with my own money, but I had to pay insurance if my grades fell below a B average. You're very lucky.

how do you determine what credit they could have gotten is there a formula somewhere?

edit

the reason i mentioned it was my perents and we werent rich but not poor was because i heard that your income plays a role in the ammount of credit you get, and i meant first new car not first car i am driving a 95' lumina right now (which i hate but its a car)

They probably already calculated their alternative minimum tax while doing their taxes this year. If they are already paying the AMT then they will get no credit.

But let's say they calculated an AMT of $16,000 but paid actual tax of $18,000. Then conceivably they could get a rebate of as much as $2000 if the vehicle is eligible. The Mariner maximum credit is $1950.

Many states offer additional incentives, you'll have to check in your state. AMT doesn't negate state incentives, to my knowledge.