The federal EV tax credit ended September 30, 2025 — here's what's still available

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 had restructured the old plug-in tax credit into the modern Clean Vehicle Credit (Section 30D). The full $7,500 was split into two equal $3,750 halves: one for vehicles whose battery's critical minerals met sourcing thresholds from the US or free-trade-partner countries, and one for battery components manufactured or assembled in North America. A vehicle meeting only one half qualified for $3,750; a vehicle meeting both qualified for the full $7,500.

Since January 1, 2024, buyers could transfer the credit to a registered dealer at the point of sale, turning it into an instant price reduction instead of a tax-time refund. That mechanism, along with the credit itself, stopped applying to vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025, when the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's repeal took effect.

For vehicles acquired on or before September 30, 2025, buyers qualified for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit if their modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) was at or below $150,000 (single filer), $225,000 (head of household), or $300,000 (married filing jointly), and the vehicle was on the IRS list of qualifying clean vehicles and below the MSRP cap. MAGI could be taken from the year of purchase or the prior year, whichever was lower.

• New EV income limits: $150,000 single / $225,000 head of household / $300,000 married filing jointly.
• Used EV income limits: $75,000 single / $112,500 head of household / $150,000 married filing jointly.
• Vehicle requirements: Final assembly in North America, on the IRS qualifying list, and under the MSRP cap for its body type.
• Use: The vehicle had to be purchased for personal use (not resale) and primarily used in the United States.

These requirements only matter now if you're determining whether a pre-deadline purchase qualifies — see the acquisition-cutoff section below. There is no forward-looking eligibility to check for new purchases.

The IRA capped the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of an eligible new EV at $55,000 for cars (sedans, hatchbacks, wagons) and $80,000 for SUVs, vans, and pickup trucks. For the Used Clean Vehicle Credit, the sale price had to be $25,000 or less. There was no MSRP cap on commercial vehicles. These caps stopped mattering once the credit ended — they're relevant now only if you're checking whether a pre-9/30/2025 purchase qualified.

• Cars (sedans, hatchbacks, wagons): MSRP had to be $55,000 or less.
• SUVs, vans, and pickup trucks: MSRP had to be $80,000 or less.
• Used EVs: Sale price had to be $25,000 or less, and the vehicle at least 2 model years old.
• Note: MSRP was the manufacturer's sticker, not the negotiated price — a dealer markdown never brought an over-cap car back into eligibility.

If you took delivery of a qualifying EV on or before September 30, 2025, you can still file for the credit on the return for the tax year you placed the vehicle in service — the repeal doesn't claw back purchases made before the cutoff. According to IRS guidance, a vehicle also counts as "acquired" before the deadline — even if you didn't take delivery until later — if you had a written binding purchase contract and made a payment (a nominal down payment or a trade-in both count) on or before September 30, 2025. If that safe harbor applies to you, you can still claim the credit even though you took possession afterward.

1. Check your dates. Delivery on or before 9/30/2025 qualifies outright. Delivery after that date can still qualify if you had a binding contract and made a payment by 9/30/2025 — confirm this against current IRS guidance, since the exact documentation standard for the safe harbor is detailed and worth verifying with a tax professional.
2. Get the time-of-sale report from your dealer. This is the document that proves your VIN qualified, and you'll need it to file.
3. File Form 8936 with your Form 1040 for the tax year you placed the vehicle in service — not necessarily the year you signed the contract. Attach a separate Schedule A (Form 8936) for each vehicle, including the VIN, and report any dealer-transferred amount on the appropriate line.
4. If you already transferred the credit to the dealer at point of sale before the deadline, you still file Form 8936 to reconcile that transfer with your return.

The credit is nonrefundable when claimed directly on a return — it can reduce your federal tax liability to zero but won't generate a refund beyond that. The point-of-sale transfer was the exception: buyers who transferred the credit to the dealer got the full benefit even with tax liability below $7,500, provided they met the income limit.

The Used Clean Vehicle Credit (Section 25E) was worth 30% of the sale price, capped at $4,000, for a vehicle priced at $25,000 or less, at least 2 model years old, and bought from a licensed dealer (private-party sales never qualified). Income limits were stricter than the new-vehicle credit: $75,000 single, $112,500 head of household, $150,000 joint. Like the new-vehicle credit, it ended for any vehicle acquired after September 30, 2025 — the same written-binding-contract safe harbor applies if you bought before the cutoff.

The Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit (Section 45W) covered EVs bought for business use: up to $7,500 for vehicles under 14,000 lbs gross vehicle weight rating, and up to $40,000 for heavier commercial vehicles, with no MAGI or MSRP caps. It was repealed by the same law, effective the same date.

Before the repeal, state and local incentives stacked on top of the federal credit as a supplement. Now that the federal credit is gone, they're the whole picture. Many states offer rebates of $1,000 to $7,500, utility rebates for home charger installation, reduced registration fees, or HOV-lane access, and none of that depends on federal law. See our EV incentives hub for state-by-state details, and the EV charging costs guide to estimate total cost of ownership without a federal credit in the math.

If you're finalizing a purchase that began before September 30, 2025 and are relying on the acquisition safe harbor above, double check that any state program you're stacking it with doesn't have its own now-closed application window — state rules didn't change with the federal repeal, but some had tied their timing to it.