Federal Tax credit when leasing.

[SomeJoe7777]

One of several reasons I will not be leasing. The tax in Texas is another. This makes the trade in guarantee look like the better option for some, but that also has some cost penalty and should only be viewed as a safety net or an easy walk away.

I leased in Texas. Those items look like arguments against leasing, but:

• I know I will give the car back at the end of the 3 year period, I'm not interested in owning it. I actually never want to own a car again -- no more resale headaches or out-of-warranty repairs, and especially with the Tesla, the technology advances accelerate the depreciation (example: AutoPilot has depreciated pre-AP Teslas more than they would have already).
  
• While the tax on the full value of the car is a pain, you can at least deduct it as sales tax from your federal tax return. If you don't want to take the entire hit at once, you can also have the leasing company roll the sales tax into the lease payments.
  
• I drive the car partially for business, so parts of the lease payments are a business expense, and are therefore deductible.

 

[Blue Millenium]

I leased in Texas. Those items look like arguments against leasing, but:

• I know I will give the car back at the end of the 3 year period, I'm not interested in owning it. I actually never want to own a car again -- no more resale headaches or out-of-warranty repairs, and especially with the Tesla, the technology advances accelerate the depreciation (example: AutoPilot has depreciated pre-AP Teslas more than they would have already).
  
• While the tax on the full value of the car is a pain, you can at least deduct it as sales tax from your federal tax return. If you don't want to take the entire hit at once, you can also have the leasing company roll the sales tax into the lease payments.
  
• I drive the car partially for business, so parts of the lease payments are a business expense, and are therefore deductible.

My accountant said regardless of the lease cost only 300.00 is deductible. The IRS clamped down awhile back in this. This is why he wanted me to own (for full depreciation and write off ability) but I was afraid of the resale value with the unprecedented technology advancements at this stage of the company's growth so I decided to take the hit on the lease side with an artificial buyback value (minus the excess business miles I am going to put on (which is fully deductable))