Instructions For Form 8910 - Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit

2012

Department of the Treasury

Internal Revenue Service

Instructions for Form 8910

Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit

You are the owner of the vehicle. If the vehicle is leased,

General Instructions

only the lessor and not the lessee, is entitled to the credit;

You placed the vehicle in service during your tax year;

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless

The original use of the vehicle began with you;

otherwise noted.

You acquired the vehicle for use or to lease to others, and

not for resale; and

Future Developments

You use the vehicle primarily in the United States.

For the latest information about developments related to

Exception. If you are the seller of an alternative motor

Form 8910 and its instructions, such as legislation enacted

vehicle to a tax-exempt organization, governmental unit, or a

after they were published, go to

foreign person or entity, and the use of that vehicle is

What's New

described in section 50(b)(3) or (4), you can claim the credit,

but only if you clearly disclose in writing to the purchaser the

The plug-in conversion credit expired for conversions made

amount of the tentative credit allowable for the vehicle (from

after 2011.

line 13 of Form 8910).

Purpose of Form

More information. For details, see the following.

Use Form 8910 to figure your credit for alternative motor

Section 30B.

vehicles you placed in service during your tax year. The

Notice 2008-33, 2008-12 I.R.B. 642, available at

credit attributable to depreciable property (vehicles used for

business or investment purposes) is treated as a general

Basis Reduction

business credit. Any credit not attributable to depreciable

property is treated as a personal credit.

Unless you elect not to claim the credit, you may have to

reduce the basis of each vehicle by the sum of the amounts

Taxpayers that are not partnerships or S corporations, and

entered on lines 13 and 17 for that vehicle.

whose only source of this credit is from those pass-through

Coordination With Other Credits

entities, are not required to complete or file this form. Instead,

they can report this credit directly on Form 3800.

If a vehicle qualifies for the qualified plug-in electric drive

Alternative Motor Vehicle

motor vehicle credit on Form 8936, Qualified Plug-In Electric

Drive Motor Vehicle Credit, the vehicle does not qualify for

An alternative motor vehicle is a vehicle with at least four

the alternative motor vehicle credit.

wheels that qualifies as a qualified fuel cell vehicle.

Recapture of Credit

Qualified fuel cell vehicle. This is a new vehicle propelled

by power derived from one or more cells that convert

If the vehicle no longer qualifies for the credit, you may have

to recapture part or all of the credit. For details, see section

chemical energy directly into electricity by combining oxygen

30B(h)(8).

with hydrogen fuel, and that meets certain additional

requirements.

Specific Instructions

Certification and other requirements. Generally, you can

rely on the manufacturer's (or, in the case of a foreign

Line 2

manufacturer, its domestic distributor's) certification that a

specific make, model, and model year vehicle qualifies for

Enter the vehicle's vehicle identification number (VIN) on

the credit and the amount of the credit for which it qualifies.

line 2. The VIN of a vehicle can be obtained from the

If, however, the IRS publishes an announcement that the

registration, title, proof of insurance, or actual vehicle.

certification for any specific make, model, and model year

Generally, the VIN is 17 characters made up of numbers and

vehicle has been withdrawn, you cannot rely on the

letters.

certification for such a vehicle purchased after the date of

Lines 4 Through 10

publication of the withdrawal announcement.

These lines have been reserved for future use.

If you purchased a vehicle and its certification was

withdrawn on or after the date of purchase, you can rely on

Line 11

such certification even if you had not placed the vehicle in

Tentative Credit

service or claimed the credit by the date the withdrawal

announcement was published by the IRS. The IRS will not

Enter the tentative credit for the year, make, and model of

attempt to collect any understatement of tax liability

vehicle you entered on line 1. You can generally rely on the

attributable to reliance on the certification as long as you

manufacturer's (or domestic distributor's) certification of the

purchased the vehicle on or before the date the IRS

credit allowable as explained earlier.

published the withdrawal announcement.

The following requirements must be met to qualify for the

For information on credit amounts for qualified fuel cell

credit:

vehicles (for example, $8,000 for the 2012 Honda FCX

Jan 15, 2013

Cat. No. 20107S

Instructions For Form 8910 - Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit - 2012

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