Form 8936

Department of the Treasury 

Internal Revenue Service 

Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit

(Including Qualified Two- or Three-Wheeled Plug-in Electric Vehicles)

▶ Attach to your tax return.

▶ Information about Form 8936 and its instructions is at www.irs.gov/form8936.

OMB No. 1545-2137

2012

Attachment 

Sequence No. 125

Name(s) shown on return Identifying number

Note.

• Use this form to claim the credit for certain plug-in electric vehicles (other than certain two- or three-wheeled or low-speed fourwheeled vehicles acquired before 2012).

• Claim the credit for certain two- or three-wheeled or low-speed four-wheeled plug-in electric vehicles acquired before 2012 on 

Form 8834.

• Claim the credit for certain alternative motor vehicles on Form 8910.

Part I Tentative Credit

Use a separate column for each vehicle. If you need more columns, 

use additional Forms 8936 and include the totals on lines 12 and 19. (a) Vehicle 1 (b) Vehicle 2

1 Year, make, and model of vehicle . . . . . . . 1

2 Vehicle identification number (see instructions) . . 2

3 Enter date vehicle was placed in service (MM/DD/YYYY) 3

4 If the vehicle is a two- or three-wheeled vehicle, enter 

the cost of the vehicle. If the vehicle has at least four 

wheels, enter the tentative credit (see instructions) . 4

Next: If you did NOT use your vehicle for business or investment purposes and did not have a credit from a partnership or 

S corporation, skip Part II and go to Part III. All others, go to Part II.

Part II Credit for Business/Investment Use Part of Vehicle

5 Business/investment use percentage (see instructions) 5 % %

6 Multiply line 4 by line 5. If the vehicle has at least four 

wheels, leave lines 7 through 10 blank and enter this 

amount on line 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

7 Section 179 expense deduction (see instructions) . 7

8 Subtract line 7 from line 6. . . . . . . . . . 8

9 Multiply line 8 by 10% (.10) . . . . . . . . . 9

10 Maximum credit per vehicle 10 2,500 00 2,500 00

11 If the vehicle is a two- or three-wheeled vehicle, enter 

the smaller of line 9 or line 10 . . . . . . . . 11

12 Add columns (a) and (b) on line 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

13 Qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle credit from partnerships and S 

corporations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

14 Business/investment use part of credit. Add lines 12 and 13. Partnerships and S 

corporations, report this amount on Schedule K. All others, report this amount on Form

3800, line 1y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

16 Multiply line 15 by 10% (.10) . . . . . . . . .

15 If you skipped Part II, enter the amount from line 4. If 

you completed Part II, subtract line 6 from line 4. If the 

vehicle has at least four wheels, leave lines 16 and 17 

blank and enter this amount on line 18 . . . . . 15

16

17 Maximum credit per vehicle. If you skipped Part II, enter 

$2,500. If you completed Part II, subtract line 11 from 

line 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

For Paperwork Reduction Act Notice, see instructions. Cat. No. 37751E Form 8936 (2012) 

Part III Credit for Personal Use Part of Vehicle
Form 8936 (2012) Page 2 

Part III Credit for Personal Use Part of Vehicle (continued)

(a) Vehicle 1 (b) Vehicle 2

18 If the vehicle is a two- or three-wheeled vehicle, enter the

smaller of line 16 or line 17 . . . . . . . . . 18

19 Add columns (a) and (b) on line 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

20 Enter the amount from Form 1040, line 46, or Form 1040NR, line 44 . . . . . . 20

21 Personal credits from Form 1040 or 1040NR (see instructions) . . . . . . . . 21

22 Subtract line 21 from line 20 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

23 Personal use part of credit. Enter the smaller of line 19 or line 22 here and on Form

1040, line 53, or Form 1040NR, line 50. Check box c on that line and enter “8936” in

the space next to that box. If line 22 is smaller than line 19, see instructions . . . . 23

Form 8936 (2012) 
Form 8936 (2012) Page 3 

General Instructions

Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code.

Future Developments

For the latest information about developments related to 

Form 8936 and its instructions, such as legislation 

enacted after they were published, go to 

www.irs.gov/form8936.

What's New

The credit is now available for certain two- or 

three-wheeled vehicles acquired after 2011 and before 

2014.

Purpose of Form

For tax years beginning after 2008, use Form 8936 to 

figure your credit for qualified plug-in electric drive motor 

vehicles you placed in service during your tax year. Also 

use Form 8936 to figure your credit for certain qualified 

two- or three-wheeled plug-in electric vehicles acquired 

after 2011 and before 2014. The credit attributable to 

depreciable property (vehicles used for business or 

investment purposes) is treated as a general business 

credit. Any credit not attributable to depreciable property 

is treated as a personal credit.

Taxpayers that are not partnerships or S corporations, 

and whose only source of this credit is from those passthrough entities, are not required to complete or file this 

form. Instead, they can report this credit directly on Form 

3800.

Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle

This is a new vehicle with at least four wheels that:

• Is propelled to a significant extent by an electric motor 

that draws electricity from a battery that has a capacity of 

not less than 4 kilowatt hours and is capable of being 

recharged from an external source of electricity, and 

• Has a gross vehicle weight of less than 14,000 pounds.

Qualified Two- or Three-Wheeled Plug-in 

Electric Vehicle

This is a new vehicle with two or three wheels that:

• Is capable of achieving a speed of 45 miles per hour or 

greater,

• Is propelled to a significant extent by an electric motor 

that draws electricity from a battery that has a capacity of 

not less than 2.5 kilowatt hours and is capable of being 

recharged from an external source of electricity, and 

• Has a gross vehicle weight of less than 14,000 pounds.

Certification and Other Requirements

Generally, you can rely on the manufacturer’s (or, in the 

case of a foreign manufacturer, its domestic distributor’s)

certification that a specific make, model, and model year

vehicle qualifies for the credit and, if applicable, the 

amount of the credit for which it qualifies.

If, however, the IRS publishes an announcement that 

the certification for any specific make, model, and model 

year vehicle has been withdrawn, you cannot rely on the 

certification for such a vehicle purchased after the date of 

publication of the withdrawal announcement.

If you purchased a vehicle and its certification was 

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

on such certification even if you had not placed the 

vehicle in service or claimed the credit by the date the 

withdrawal announcement was published by the IRS. The 

IRS will not attempt to collect any understatement of tax 

liability attributable to reliance on the certification as long 

as you purchased the vehicle on or before the date the 

IRS published the withdrawal announcement.

The following requirements must be met to qualify for 

the credit:

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

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

• You placed the vehicle in service during your tax year;

• The vehicle is manufactured primarily for use on public 

streets, roads, and highways;

• The original use of the vehicle began with you;

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

and not for resale; and

• You use the vehicle primarily in the United States.

Exception. If you are the seller of a qualified plug-in

electric drive motor vehicle or qualified two- or threewheeled plug-in electric vehicle to a tax-exempt

organization, governmental unit, or a foreign person or

entity, and the use of that vehicle is 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 amount of

the tentative credit allowable for the vehicle (from line 11

of Form 8936).

More information. For details, see the following.

• Section 30D.

• Notice 2009-54, 2009-26 I.R.B. 1124, available at 

www.irs.gov/irb/2009-26_IRB/ar07.html.

• Notice 2009-89, 2009-48 I.R.B. 714, available at 

www.irs.gov/irb/2009-48_IRB/ar09.html.

• Notice 2012-54, 2012-52 I.R.B. 773, available at 

www.irs.gov/irb/2012-52_IRB/ar13.html.

Credit Phaseout

The credit for vehicles with at least four wheels is subject 

to a phaseout (reduction) once the vehicle manufacturer 

(or, for a foreign manufacturer, its U.S. distributor) sells 

200,000 of these vehicles to a retailer for use in the 

United States after 2009. The phaseout begins in the 

second calendar quarter after the quarter in which the 

200,000th vehicle was sold. Then the phaseout allows 

50% of the full credit for 2 quarters, 25% of the full credit 

for 2 additional quarters, and no credit thereafter.

Basis Reduction

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

reduce the basis of each vehicle by the sum of the 

amounts entered on lines 11 and 18 for that vehicle.
Form 8936 (2012) Page 4 

Coordination With Other Credits

A vehicle that qualifies for the qualified plug-in electric 

drive motor vehicle credit on this form cannot be used to 

claim the alternative motor vehicle credit on Form 8910. 

Also, the vehicle will not qualify for the qualified plug-in 

electric motor vehicle credit on Form 8834.

Recapture of Credit

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

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

section 30D(f)(5).

Specific Instructions

Line 2

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

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

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

Generally, the VIN is 17 characters made up of numbers 

and letters.

Line 4

Cost or Tentative Credit

For two- or three-wheeled vehicles, enter the cost of the 

vehicle you entered on line 1. For vehicles with at least 

four wheels, enter the credit allowable for the year, make, 

and model of vehicle you entered on line 1. You can 

generally rely on the manufacturer’s (or domestic 

distributor’s) certification of the credit allowable as 

explained above.

Tentative credit amounts acknowledged by the IRS are 

available at 

www.irs.gov/Businesses/Qualified-Vehicles-Acquiredafter-12-31-2009. Or you can visit IRS.gov and search for 

“Plug-in Electric Vehicle Credit (IRC 30 and 30D).”

Line 5

Enter the percentage of business/investment use.

Enter 100% if the vehicle is used solely for business 

purposes or you are claiming the credit as the seller of 

the vehicle.

If the vehicle is used for both business purposes and 

personal purposes, determine the percentage of business 

use by dividing the number of miles the vehicle is driven 

during the year for business purposes or for the 

production of income (not to include any commuting 

mileage) by the total number of miles the vehicle is driven 

for all purposes. Treat vehicles used by your employees 

as being used 100% for business/investment purposes if 

the value of personal use is included in the employees’ 

gross income, or the employees reimburse you for the 

personal use. If you report the amount of personal use of 

the vehicle in your employee’s gross income and withhold 

the appropriate taxes, enter “100%” for the percentage of 

business/investment use.

If during the tax year you convert property used solely 

for personal purposes to business/investment use (or vice 

versa), figure the percentage of business/investment use 

only for the number of months you use the property in 

your business or for the production of income. Multiply 

that percentage by the number of months you use the 

property in your business or for the production of income 

and divide the result by 12. For example, if you converted 

a vehicle to 50% business use for the last 6 months of the 

year, you would enter 25% on line 5 (50% multiplied by 6 

divided by 12).

For more information, see Pub. 463, Travel, 

Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses.

Line 7

Enter any section 179 expense deduction you claimed for 

the vehicle from Part I of Form 4562, Depreciation and 

Amortization.

Line 13

Enter total qualified plug-in electric drive motor vehicle 

credits from:

• Schedule K-1 (Form 1065), box 15 (code P), and

• Schedule K-1 (Form 1120S), box 13 (code P).

Line 21

Enter the total, if any, credits from Form 1040, lines 47 

through 50 (or Form 1040NR, lines 45 through 47); 

Form 5695, line 32; Form 8834, line 23; Form 8910, line 

22; and Schedule R, line 22.

Line 23

If you cannot use part of the personal portion of the credit 

because of the tax liability limit, the unused credit is lost. 

The unused personal portion of the credit cannot be 

carried back or forward to other tax years.

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the

information on this form to carry out the Internal Revenue 

laws of the United States. You are required to give us the 

information. We need it to ensure that you are complying 

with these laws and to allow us to figure and collect the 

right amount of tax.

You are not required to provide the information 

requested on a form that is subject to the Paperwork 

Reduction Act unless the form displays a valid OMB 

control number. Books or records relating to a form or its 

instructions must be retained as long as their contents 

may become material in the administration of any Internal 

Revenue law. Generally, tax returns and return 

information are confidential, as required by section 6103.

The time needed to complete and file this form will vary 

depending on individual circumstances. The estimated 

burden for individual taxpayers filing this form is approved 

under OMB control number 1545-0074 and is included in 

the estimates shown in the instructions for their individual 

income tax return. The estimated burden for all other 

taxpayers who file this form is shown below.

Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . 4 hr., 4 min.

Learning about the law or the form . . . . 35 min.

Preparing and sending the form to the IRS . 41 min.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of 

these time estimates or suggestions for making this form 

simpler, we would be happy to hear from you. See the 

instructions for the tax return with which this form is filed.