WASHINGTON — More than 7,000 U.S. car dealers have registered with the IRS to offer electric vehicle tax credits at the point of sale when the option becomes available to consumers Jan. 1, the U.S. Treasury Department said Friday.
However, that represents a fraction — roughly 40 percent — of the nearly 17,000 franchised dealerships selling light-duty vehicles in the U.S., according to 2023 data from the National Automobile Dealers Association.
The registration figure comes after nearly 4,000 dealerships wrote to President Joe Biden in November, urging him to “slow down” on the federal EV push.
Still, dealers must be registered via the newly launched website — called IRS Energy Credits Online — for their customers to claim or transfer federal tax credits and use those funds as a down payment for eligible new- and used-EV purchases. Registration, which opened Nov. 1, also is required for dealers to receive direct payments for transfered credits.
The credit transfer is allowed under the Inflation Reduction Act’s Section 30D credit for new EV purchases and Section 25E credit for used EVs, providing consumers with up to $7,500 for new vehicles and $4,000 for used vehicles if certain requirements are met.
“The Treasury Department has conducted extensive outreach to more than 5,000 participants through webinars, conferences and other speaking engagements to ensure dealers were aware of this provision in the Inflation Reduction Act and able to register,” a Treasury official said in a statement.
Starting Jan. 1, registered dealers will be able to electronically submit EV sales information to the IRS and receive payments via direct deposit for transferred credits within 72 hours.
Dealers will also use the portal to submit time-of-sale reports, which confirm a vehicle’s eligibility for a credit regardless of whether the buyer transfers it to the dealer.
For dealers not yet registered, there is a 15-day waiting period from when a dealer registers to receive advance payments.
Dealer registration via the IRS portal does not apply to the commercial clean vehicle tax credit, known as 45W.