New Clean Vehicle Credit (IRC 30D): historical eligibility and claim guide
Historical guide to the federal Section 30D credit: it is closed for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025, but eligible earlier acquisitions may still be claimed when placed in service.
New Clean Vehicle Credit (IRC 30D): historical eligibility and claim guide
This credit is closed
The federal New Clean Vehicle Credit under Internal Revenue Code Section 30D is closed for new acquisitions. The IRS states plainly at the top of its own page that the credit “is not available for vehicles acquired after Sept. 30, 2025.” If you are shopping for an electric or fuel cell vehicle today, there is no federal 30D credit for a vehicle acquired after that cutoff, and no dealer can transfer one to you at the point of sale.
The current IRS page does not announce a new Section 30D application cycle or successor purchase credit. The termination was written into law by Public Law 119-21, 139 Stat. 72, enacted July 4, 2025 and commonly called the One, Big, Beautiful Bill. The IRS published fact sheet FS-2025-05 on August 21, 2025 listing the accelerated termination dates for eight energy provisions, and Section 30D appears there with a single line: the credit “will not be allowed for any vehicle acquired after September 30, 2025.”
So the useful question is no longer “does my car qualify?” It is “did I acquire a vehicle in time, and if so, have I actually claimed the credit yet?” One narrow group of taxpayers still has money on the table. Everyone else is reading history.
At a glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Status | Closed. No credit for vehicles acquired after Sept. 30, 2025 |
| Authority for the cutoff | Public Law 119-21 (enacted July 4, 2025); IRS fact sheet FS-2025-05 |
| Who may still claim | Taxpayers who acquired a qualifying vehicle on or before Sept. 30, 2025 |
| What “acquired” requires | A written binding contract and a payment, both on or before Sept. 30, 2025 |
| Additional condition | The vehicle must be placed in service — you take possession |
| Maximum value | Up to $7,500, depending on when the vehicle was placed in service |
| How the claim is made | Form 8936, filed with the return for the year of delivery |
| Hard blocker | No successfully submitted time-of-sale report means no credit |
| Point-of-sale transfer | No longer available for new purchases; only relevant if you already made the election |
The one path that is still open
The statute cuts off vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025, and “acquired” is a term of art here. The IRS defines it in question 2 of FS-2025-05: for Sections 25E, 30D, and 45W, a vehicle is acquired “as of the date a written binding contract is entered into and a payment has been made.” Both halves are required. The agency adds that “a payment includes a nominal downpayment or a vehicle trade-in,” which is a genuinely helpful concession — a small deposit or a trade-in counts, so buyers who signed and put something down before the cutoff are not disqualified for having paid too little.
Acquisition by itself does not produce a credit, though. Question 3 of the same fact sheet is explicit that acquisition “is an initial step, but acquisition alone does not immediately entitle a taxpayer to a credit.” Section 30D(a) requires the vehicle to be placed in service. The IRS defines that as the moment you take possession of the vehicle — when it is delivered to you or you drive it off the lot. A taxpayer who signed a binding contract and paid a deposit in September 2025 and took delivery months later is still entitled to claim the credit for the year of delivery.
That combination is what keeps this page relevant well past the cutoff. Because the IRS allows a vehicle to be placed in service after September 30, 2025 as long as it was acquired by that date, a taxpayer whose delivery landed in a later tax year would claim the credit on that later year’s return even though the credit itself was terminated in 2025. The credit belongs to the tax year in which you took delivery, not the year you signed.
If you did not have both a written binding contract and a payment in place by September 30, 2025, there is no version of this that works. A verbal reservation, a refundable order deposit on a waitlist with no binding contract, or a purchase agreement signed in October 2025 will not satisfy the IRS test.
What the credit is worth if you still qualify
The maximum is $7,500, but the amount turns on when the vehicle was placed in service rather than when it was purchased.
For vehicles placed in service between January 1 and April 17, 2023, the IRS uses the older formula: a $2,500 base amount, plus $417 for a vehicle with at least 7 kilowatt hours of battery capacity, plus $417 for each kilowatt hour beyond 5 kilowatt hours, capped at $7,500. In practice the floor under that formula is $3,751.
For vehicles placed in service on or after April 18, 2023 — which covers essentially every vehicle still in play under the acquisition carve-out — the credit splits into two halves tied to sourcing. A vehicle that meets the critical minerals requirement only is worth $3,750. A vehicle that meets the battery components requirement only is worth $3,750. A vehicle that meets both is worth $7,500. A vehicle that meets neither gets nothing, and there is no partial credit outside those brackets.
One more constraint that catches people off guard: if you did not transfer the credit to a dealer, the credit is nonrefundable. The IRS says you cannot get back more on the credit than you owe in taxes, and you cannot carry any excess forward to a future tax year. A buyer with a $2,000 federal tax liability and a $7,500 credit does not receive a $5,500 refund and cannot bank the difference.
Buyer rules that still apply to a valid claim
The buyer-side tests did not change with the termination; they simply apply to a shrinking set of claims. To qualify you must have bought the vehicle for your own use rather than for resale, and you must use it primarily in the United States. The credit is available to individuals and their businesses.
The income test uses modified adjusted gross income, which may not exceed:
- $300,000 for married couples filing jointly or a surviving spouse
- $225,000 for heads of household
- $150,000 for all other filers
The IRS lets you use your modified AGI from the year you take delivery or from the year before, whichever is less. If you are below the threshold in either of those two years, you can claim the credit. That two-year test matters more than usual for late deliveries against pre-cutoff contracts, because the delivery year may look very different from the year you signed the contract.
Vehicle rules that still apply
A vehicle acquired in time still has to be a qualifying vehicle. Under the IRS criteria it must have a battery capacity of at least 7 kilowatt hours, a gross vehicle weight rating under 14,000 pounds, be made by a qualified manufacturer, undergo final assembly in North America, and meet the critical mineral and battery component requirements that took effect April 18, 2023. It must have been bought new.
The MSRP cap is $80,000 for vans, sport utility vehicles, and pickup trucks, and $55,000 for other vehicles. The IRS is specific that MSRP means the manufacturer’s suggested retail price including manufacturer-installed options, accessories, and trim, but excluding destination fees — and that “it isn’t necessarily the price you pay.” Discounts and negotiated pricing do not pull a vehicle under the cap, and destination fees do not push it over.
You can find the battery capacity, weight, final assembly point, and VIN on the vehicle’s window sticker. The IRS also links an eligibility lookup at fueleconomy.gov from its clean vehicle credit page.
The time-of-sale report is still the make-or-break document
For vehicles placed in service on or after January 1, 2024, the IRS requires you to have a copy of the accepted time-of-sale report submitted through IRS Energy Credits Online. Not a promise from the dealer, not a line in the sales contract — the accepted report.
The dealer had to give you the report and the IRS acceptance confirmation when you took possession, and the sale had to be reported within the required three-day window. FS-2025-05 notes that taxpayers should receive a time-of-sale report at the time they take possession or within three days of doing so. The IRS states the consequence bluntly on its how-to-claim page: “If you do not have a successfully submitted time-of-sale report, you are not eligible to claim the credit.”
The termination created a wrinkle here worth knowing about. New dealer registration for the Clean Vehicle Credit program through Energy Credits Online closed on September 30, 2025. The portal stayed open past that date, but only for previously registered dealers to submit time-of-sale reports and updates to those reports, such as when a vehicle is returned. If your dealer was registered before the cutoff, they can still file or correct your report. If they never registered, that gap cannot be closed now.
How to claim it
If you acquired the vehicle in time, took delivery, and hold an accepted time-of-sale report, the mechanics are unchanged.
- Confirm the acquisition date with the written binding contract and proof of payment from on or before September 30, 2025.
- Confirm the delivery date, because that determines which tax year the credit belongs to.
- Check your modified AGI for both the delivery year and the year before, and use the lower one.
- Locate the accepted time-of-sale report and the IRS confirmation.
- File Form 8936, Clean Vehicle Credits, with the return for the year you took delivery. You will need the VIN.
You file Form 8936 whether you transferred the credit at the time of sale or you are claiming it on your return. The transfer is not a substitute for the form.
If the return is rejected because of Form 8936, the IRS points first at the VIN — and notes there are no letters O, Q, or I in a VIN, which is where a surprising number of transcription errors come from. If the VIN is right and you believe the vehicle qualifies, attach a file or explanation substantiating the purchase before resubmitting.
If you already transferred the credit to a dealer
The point-of-sale transfer election is closed to new purchases along with the credit itself, but it still affects returns. FS-2025-05 addressed this directly: the election is made at the time of sale, when you take possession, not at the time of acquisition. A buyer who signed a contract in September 2025 could not elect the transfer then; the election happened at delivery, and only if the dealer was registered and the vehicle was bought mainly for personal use. The cap of two transfer elections per tax year still applies.
If you took the discount at the dealership, you still have to reconcile it on your return, and every record needs to tell the same story: same buyer, same VIN, same delivery date, same credit amount. A mismatch between the dealer’s submitted report and your Form 8936 is the most common reason a transferred credit turns into correspondence with the IRS.
Records worth keeping
Keep the written binding contract, the proof of payment or trade-in from on or before the cutoff, the purchase paperwork, the accepted time-of-sale report and IRS confirmation, the VIN, the date you took possession, any transfer-election paperwork, and the filed Form 8936. For a business purchase, keep these with the entity’s tax file rather than the owner’s personal records — the return that claims the credit has to match the legal buyer on the purchase documents.
Substantiation matters more for a terminated credit than for a live one, because the acquisition date is now the thing most likely to be questioned. A contract with a clear signature date and a payment record with a matching date is worth more than any amount of explanation after the fact.
What this closure does not mean
The current IRS material does not announce a replacement federal purchase credit for new clean vehicles. Do not read this page as a bridge to a successor program, and verify any dealer or third-party claim about a “new” federal EV credit against IRS.gov.
Two related credits ended on the same date. The previously-owned clean vehicle credit under Section 25E and the qualified commercial clean vehicle credit under Section 45W are also unavailable for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025. The alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit under Section 30C ran a little longer, closing for property placed in service after June 30, 2026. On the home side, the energy efficient home improvement credit under Section 25C is not allowed for property placed in service after December 31, 2025, and the residential clean energy credit under Section 25D is not allowed for expenditures made after that same date.
State and utility incentives are a separate matter entirely. They were never governed by Section 30D and are unaffected by this termination, so a state rebate or a utility charger credit may still be available where you live. Check those on their own official pages rather than assuming the federal outcome carries over.
Common mistakes
Assuming a signed order is enough. The IRS wants a written binding contract and a payment, both dated on or before September 30, 2025. One without the other fails.
Confusing the delivery date with the acquisition date. A vehicle delivered after September 30, 2025 can still qualify if it was acquired by the cutoff. A vehicle acquired in October 2025 cannot qualify no matter when it arrived.
Filing for the wrong tax year. The credit attaches to the year you took possession, not the year you signed or paid.
Skipping Form 8936 after a dealer discount. The transfer does not close out the claim; the form still has to be filed.
Treating the time-of-sale report as optional paperwork. It is a condition of eligibility, and the IRS says so.
Expecting a refund from a nonrefundable credit. Without a transfer, the credit cannot exceed your tax liability and cannot be carried forward.
FAQ
Can I still buy an EV and get the $7,500 federal credit? No. The IRS says the credit is not available for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025.
I signed a contract and put money down in September 2025 but took delivery later. Can I claim it? Yes, if the written binding contract and a payment were both dated on or before September 30, 2025, and the vehicle otherwise qualifies. The credit is claimed for the year you took possession.
Does a trade-in count as the payment? The IRS says a payment includes a nominal downpayment or a vehicle trade-in.
What if the vehicle was never delivered? Then there is nothing to claim. The vehicle must be placed in service — you must take possession — before the credit exists.
My dealer never gave me a time-of-sale report. Can I fix that now? Only if the dealer registered with IRS Energy Credits Online before September 30, 2025. Previously registered dealers can still submit and update reports. Without a successfully submitted report you are not eligible.
Is there a new federal EV credit replacing this one? The current IRS pages linked here do not announce a successor credit for new clean vehicles.
What about used or commercial EVs? Those credits, under Sections 25E and 45W, ended on the same date for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025.
Can I get the credit as a refund if I owe no tax? No, unless you transferred it to a dealer at the time of sale. Otherwise it is nonrefundable and cannot be carried forward.
Verification notes
The IRS page for this credit was last reviewed or updated on July 13, 2026, and it carries the termination notice at the top. The how-to-claim guide was last reviewed on June 27, 2026 and still describes the Form 8936, time-of-sale report, and VIN steps above. The termination dates and the definition of “acquired” come from fact sheet FS-2025-05, dated August 21, 2025, which the IRS announced in IR-2025-86. Treat the fact sheet as general guidance rather than binding authority — the IRS says these FAQs have not been published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin.
Official links
- IRS main page: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/credits-for-new-clean-vehicles-purchased-in-2023-or-after
- FS-2025-05, FAQs on the accelerated termination of energy provisions under Public Law 119-21: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/faqs-for-modification-of-sections-25c-25d-25e-30c-30d-45l-45w-and-179d-under-public-law-119-21-139-stat-72-july-4-2025-commonly-known-as-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-obbb
- IRS announcement of those FAQs: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-issue-faqs-to-address-the-accelerated-termination-of-several-energy-provisions-under-obbb
- How to claim a clean vehicle tax credit: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/how-to-claim-a-clean-vehicle-tax-credit
- Seller or dealer requirements: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/clean-vehicle-credit-seller-or-dealer-requirements
- Form 8936: https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-form-8936
- Form 15400, Clean Vehicle Seller Report (sample, new vehicle): https://www.irs.gov/pub/newsroom/form-15400-sample-new.pdf
- New Clean Vehicle Tax Credit Checklist (Publication 5866): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5866.pdf
- Information for Consumers Purchasing a New or Used Clean Vehicle (Publication 5905): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p5905.pdf
- Used Clean Vehicle Credit: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/used-clean-vehicle-credit
- Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/commercial-clean-vehicle-credit
- IRS clean vehicle credits hub: https://www.irs.gov/clean-vehicle-tax-credits