Clean vehicle credit seller or dealer requirements

Note: If a vehicle was not placed in service still within the 48 hours of the original time of sale submission Dealers and sellers should use the VOID option.

Sellers of new clean vehicles and dealers of used clean vehicles must meet reporting requirements for those vehicles to be eligible for a credit under IRC 30D and 25E.

Who qualifies

Sellers of vehicles that are eligible for a new clean vehicle credit under IRC 30D must furnish a report to the buyer at the time of sale and also to the IRS for those vehicles to be eligible for a credit under IRC 30D. This includes manufacturers who sell directly to customers.

Dealers who sell vehicles eligible for a used (previously owned) vehicle credit under IRC 25E must furnish a report to the buyer at the time of sale and also to IRS for those vehicles to be eligible for a credit under IRC 25E. A dealer is a person licensed to sell motor vehicles by a state, the District of Columbia, an Indian tribal government, or any Alaska Native Corporation.

Electric vehicles (EVs) and fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) eligible for tax credits include:

Report required information

For a buyer to receive a tax credit, sellers and dealers must report clean vehicle credit information to the buyer at the time of sale and to the IRS.

Report 2024 and later information to the IRS

For eligible clean vehicles placed in service on or after January 1, 2024, you must submit all reports through IRS Energy Credits Online within 3 calendar days of the date of sale. You must also provide the buyer with a copy of the accepted seller report submitted to IRS Energy Credits Online within 3 calendar days of the date of submission.

As IRS Energy Credits Online provides real-time confirmation of a vehicle's eligibility using VINs provided by manufacturers, we strongly recommend this submission occurs prior to finalizing a sale and when the buyer places the vehicle in service. However, you may submit the seller report to IRS Energy Credits Online within 3 calendar days of the time of sale.

Dealers can now submit corrected time of sale reports for transactions that occurred more than 3 calendar days from the date of sale. 

For these transactions, dealers should anticipate the time of sale report to be available after the IRS has completed a review and concurs with the attestations submitted with the sale. We encourage you to promptly submit any such time of sale reports, as they will generally take additional time to process. 

Please note: Dealers must have been successfully registered for time of sale reporting and advance payment, as applicable, prior to or on the date of sale in order to submit the time of sale report. See Frequently asked questions about the New, Previously Owned and Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicles Credit: Topic I Q1.

Your first step in reporting is to register your business as a vehicle seller or dealer on IRS Energy Credits.

Register your business for clean vehicle credits

Report information to buyers

For vehicles placed in service in 2024 or later, providing buyers a copy of the seller report submitted to IRS Energy Credits Online and the confirmation that the IRS accepted the submission meets your reporting obligation.

For vehicles placed in service in 2023, you needed to provide the following information to buyers at the time of sale:

  • Seller/Dealer name and taxpayer ID number
  • Buyer's name and taxpayer ID number
  • Maximum credit allowable under IRC 30D for new vehicles or IRC 25E for previously owned vehicles
  • Vehicle identification number (VIN), unless the vehicle is not assigned one
  • Battery capacity
  • Date of sale
  • Sale price
  • For new vehicles, verification that the buyer is the original user

Each report must include a declaration of accuracy signed by a representative of your business with binding authority. The declaration must read: "Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this report submitted to the IRS pursuant to Revenue Procedure 2022-42 by [insert name of Seller], and to the best of my knowledge and belief I certify that this report is true, correct, and complete."

Find more details in Rev. Proc. 2022-42, Submission of Information to IRS by Qualified Manufacturers of Clean Vehicles, Previously Owned Clean Vehicles, and Commercial Clean Vehicles; Submission of Information to IRS by Sellers of Clean Vehicles and Previously Owned Clean Vehicles and Rev. Proc. 2023-33, Transfer of Credit under Sections 30D and 25E from Taxpayer to Eligible Entity and Updated Requirements for Qualified Manufacturers and Sellers.

Clean vehicle returns and cancellations

Clean vehicle dealers and sellers can now cancel, return, and void time of sale reports.

Please verify information input for accuracy. Once the information is submitted the action is permanent and cannot be undone.

Dealers/sellers can void a time of sale report for vehicles not placed in service up to 48 hours after submission.

Dealers/sellers can use the new functionality to indicate a clean vehicle was returned by the purchaser after the void period has passed or to indicate the previously submitted time of sale report needs to be cancelled. We encourage you to promptly use the new returns process for time of sale report that’s previously submitted in calendar year 2024 that need to be cancelled or modified.

  • To cancel a previously submitted time of sale report: If the previously submitted report needs to be cancelled more than 48 hours after the original submission and the vehicle was not placed in service, use the modify report functionality and select I need to return a vehicle or cancel a seller report.
  • To indicate a vehicle has been returned by a buyer: Use the modify functionality, and indicate the vehicle was placed in service.

Reminder: IRS ECO should not be used for leased vehicles. If a time of sale report was submitted for a leased vehicle, the report must be cancelled.

Dealers and sellers of clean vehicles should ensure that time of sale report submissions or any subsequent void, cancellation, or modification of a time of sale report is accurate. IRS review of time of sale reports, vehicle registration, and other information can result in revocation of a dealer/seller’s registration with IRS ECO and/or the potential recapture of advance payments from a dealer when appropriate.

For more information see Publication 5867-B, Clean Vehicle Return and Cancellation User Guide PDF.

Related

Laws

Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 07-Apr-2025