Acceleration boost taxed from redeemed referral point?

[MattH]

Did anyone receive a form 1099 from Tesla after redeeming referral credits to purchase acceleration boost, if so how much were you taxed?
Or any other redemption of credits being taxed for that matter, specifically trying to understand how they tax software redeemed credits.

Thanks!

 

[Knightshade]

Did anyone receive a form 1099 from Tesla after redeeming referral credits to purchase acceleration boost, if so how much were you taxed?
Or any other redemption of credits being taxed for that matter, specifically trying to understand how they tax software redeemed credits.

Thanks!

Can't speak for Tesla, but I know generally points earned via referrals from things like credit cards and bank accounts are taxable-- even if you haven't redeemed them for anything. Typically the company (or bank) assigns a value to them... for example a 60k Amex point bonus for opening a checking account got me a 1099 for $600 (1 cent per point in Amex assigned value)- even though the points hadn't been used for anything at all (and could be worth considerably more or less depending how I redeemed them).

(in contrast, sign up bonuses for credit cards where some amount of spending is required are considered REBATES, and are NOT considered taxable income by the IRS)

 

[MattH]

Can't speak for Tesla, but I know generally points earned via referrals from things like credit cards and bank accounts are taxable-- even if you haven't redeemed them for anything. Typically the company (or bank) assigns a value to them... for example a 60k Amex point bonus for opening a checking account got me a 1099 for $600 (1 cent per point in Amex assigned value)- even though the points hadn't been used for anything at all (and could be worth considerably more or less depending how I redeemed them).

(in contrast, sign up bonuses for credit cards where some amount of spending is required are considered REBATES, and are NOT considered taxable income by the IRS)

That is good info, thanks for sharing. With it being tax season, hoping someone on here has used some credits and has some information on how it affected their tax return. I saw elsewhere on the net, someone was given an aprox value of .08 a mile on "free" supercharging miles on a 1099 from Tesla. They had used 11k miles and were taxed on over $800. I am just wondering how a software upgrade redeemed would be reflected. Might be better to just redeem for trinkets offered in the app that have a sellable value on Tesla.com under $600.

 

[Jeremy3292]

I never got a 1099 and I got acceleration boost from referral credits last year.

 

[E90alex]

I never got a 1099 and I got acceleration boost from referral credits last year.

Same

 

[MattH]

I never got a 1099 and I got acceleration boost from referral credits last year.

That is encouraging, so no message in the app like this screenshot I found on the web?
So it seems software upgrades may fall into a grey area, as I have not been able to verify anywhere that anyone has received this message in the app after redeeming for software. Thanks!

 

[Jeremy3292]

Correct, no message