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This has bugged me for a long time. The federal $7500 tax credit is a credit to your taxes. It goes against taxes you have paid. When calculating the value of a trade-in vehicle, tesla by default removes that $7500 from the value of the car effectively absorbing the tax credit for themselves. Not everyone who purchases the vehicle receive the credit and even if they did they paid upwards of $10,000 in taxes on the vehicle depending on where they live. The taxes paid don't add to the value to the car so why should a tax credit be removed from the value of the car?
Even when they post the tax credit in the vehicle configuration creating a "effective cost" for the car, that conveniently leaves out the actual taxes you are paying for the vehicle but yet the assigns the credit as a discount on the car itself which is not the case.
This has always been something I have thought was fundamentally unfair. I'm curious as to what your thoughts are on the subject
and it is a nit, but you get to pay state sales tax on that extra $7500 then get to wait a year to get the $7500. In Florida, you pay 6% sales tax on that $7500 and then loose 5% cost of money waiting for the tax credit to apply (unless you do quarterly estimated payments at which point you can decrease the next quarter's payment and realize the benefit sooner). Small but not insignificant.
The tax credit is irrelevant when calculating the trade in value. If a buyer did or did not take the credit, did or did not pay sales tax (EVs are sales tax exempt in some states) its all irrelevant. The trade in value is related to what the car is worth, and what Tesla will be able to resell it for. The person who buys the used Tesla cares not what the original owner received or paid in taxes and credits.
The tax credit is irrelevant when calculating the trade in value. If a buyer did or did not take the credit, did or did not pay sales tax (EVs are sales tax exempt in some states) its all irrelevant. The trade in value is related to what the car is worth, and what Tesla will be able to resell it for. The person who buys the used Tesla cares not what the original owner received or paid in taxes and credits.
I can not help but return to the reality of the situation. The tax credit effectively reduces the price of the car for MOST people. The net affect is that the car cost MOST people less money thus the reduction is carried through to the secondary market. It is reality that two cars sitting on the Tesla lot with the exact same milage and age (one demo, one trade in) will be $7500 different in price simply because one can make use of the tax credit while the other can not. The privately owned car is likely a much better car as it was probably well loved by its first owner.
The simple truth of tax credits like this one is that they help the manufacturer with margins until they are established. We will pay what we will pay so Tesla simply increases the price of the car accordingly to capture that tax credit. They try to overcome the emotional resistance to the higher price by showing the credit reduced amount on their site at every opportunity.
Is it right or correct? I can not say. It is reality. Absolutely.
As for the person that can not take the credit, they are probably evaluating the situation and choosing to go secondary where the credit is already wrapped in.
Again, I am not defending anyone's actions. I'm just acknowledging the reality of the situation and reasons why it is unlikely to change.
What about the buyer who was unable to take *any* of the 7500 credit due to large charitable deductions (or relative poverty) for that year? Or only half of it? As it turned out I just squeaked the full 7500 so maybe I'm worrying here about a minuscule population.
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Am I being unreasonable?