Hey, guys, read the law:
For purposes of this section, the term “qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling property” has the same meaning as the term “qualified clean-fuel vehicle refueling property” would have under section
179A if—
(1) paragraph (1) of section
179A (d) did not apply to property installed on property which is used as the principal residence (within the meaning of section
121) of the taxpayer, and
(2) only the following were treated as clean-burning fuels for purposes of section
179A (d): (A) Any fuel at least 85 percent of the volume of which consists of one or more of the following: ethanol, natural gas, compressed natural gas, liquified natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, or hydrogen.
(B) Any mixture— (i) which consists of two or more of the following: biodiesel (as defined in section
40A (d)(1)), diesel fuel (as defined in section
4083 (a)(3)), or kerosene, and
(ii) at least 20 percent of the volume of which consists of biodiesel (as so defined) determined without regard to any kerosene in such mixture.
(C) Electricity.
It must be installed ON property qualified as your personal residence, and it refers to Code Section 121 (which provides for the 250/500K exclusion on the gain on the sale of one's personal residence.) So, you get to figure the credit on whatever equipment and installation that you paid for to charge your electric vehicle at your personal residence, period.
Most income tax litigation does not focus on whether the taxpayer has receipts or other documentation supporting the transaction that lowered his tax. Most litigation focuses on the facts and circumstances in that particular case. An installation of a charging plug after ordering a BEV would be prima facie evidence that it was installed for the car. An installation of a charging plug six months before ordering a BEV or without ever buying one, less likely. And, even with the best of intentions of purchasing a BEV that falls through after you installed the EVSE and received the credit, you must recapture the credit in the year that the deal falls through.
But seriously, most people who buy a Tesla and install EVSE to charge in the same taxable year will not be able to avail themselves of the 30C credit because the credit cannot lower your "tentative alternative minimum tax." The $7,500 tax credit is allowed to reduce your AMT, so most folks will have a "TMT" higher than their regular tax before the Section 30C EVSE credit. Granted, there are those in the 39.6% tax bracket with little or no preference items, so they don't have an AMT problem, and will be able to avail themselves of the EVSE credit as well.
