This article will assist you with entering a vehicle credit for Form 8936 for a vehicle that isn't two- or three-wheeled—and with $7,500 as the maximum credit amount—in the Individual module of Lacerte.
Refer to the IRS Instructions for Form 8936 for more information about this credit.
NOTE: Changes made to Form 8936 for TY23 include:
- A new clean vehicle credit for new electric vehicles meeting specific requirements
- A credit for previously owned clean vehicles
- A credit for qualified commercial clean vehicles
Tax-exempt and governmental entities may also elect to treat their credits as a payment of income tax. However, credit for plug-in electric-drive motor vehicles is no longer available for vehicles placed in service after 2022 and final assembly of the vehicle must occur within North America for vehicles purchased after August 16, 2022. See here for more details.
Follow these steps to generate the 8936 credit for a vehicle that isn't two or three-wheeled:
- Go to Screen 34, General Business and Vehicle Credits.
- Scroll down to Clean Vehicle Credits (8936).
- Enter a 2 in the 1=alternative motor vehicle (8910), 2=plug-in electric drive motor vehicle (8936) (code 233) field.
- Note: In 2012 this field reads: Vehicle credit type: 1=alternative motor (8910), 2=plug-in electric acquired before 2012 (8834), 3=plug-in electric drive motor (8936) (code 233).
- Under the Vehicle Information section, enter the following fields:
- Date placed in service
- Vehicle identification number (VIN)
- Year
- Make
- Model
- Enter the amount of maximum credit available for this vehicle from the manufacturer's certificate in the Tentative credit [O] (code 140) field.
- The $7,500 credit amount will automatically populate on Form 8936, lines 4, 15, and 18 without an entry in the Tentative credit [O] (code 140) field. However, if the credit available on the manufacturer's certificate is greater than $7,500, then the override must be used.
- Scroll down to the Business or Investment Use Percentage subsection and enter the following fields, if the vehicle was used for business:
- Total mileage
- Business mileage
- Number of months of business/investment use (if not 12)
- Go to the Forms tab.
- Make sure that Form 8936 is generating and that any credit amount allowed on line 14 flows to the Form 3800.