Colorado Tax Credits

[tomis916]

It sounds like we are getting the same generic adjustment notice.

For those claiming a credit of $2,800, I would assume you are claiming $2,800, rather than $2,000, because you believe your R1T or R1S qualifies as a commercial vehicle, and not a private vehicle (this was discussed earlier in this thread - though none of us claimed to be experts on the topic). And, because I assumed it didn't apply to me, I never researched what qualifies as a commercial vehicle. In my protest, I simply noted that my R1S is a private vehicle and is not used for any commercial purposes.

If I were the Colorado DOR (and I certainly am not) and you were claiming a $2,800 credit, I would ask for some sort of evidence that the vehicle is, in fact, a commercial vehicle. While it might be obvious in most cases (e.g., Schedule C or self-employment income with vehicle deductions), I'm guessing these wouldn't be the only possible scenarios.

Unfortunately, we don't really know why they reached the conclusion that our claims were inconsistent with the weight class and amount of the credit claimed. And, since no one we know has gotten the credit, we can't determine their position as to what qualifies by deduction.

I will share what I learn as soon as I receive a response on my protest of a $2,000 claim, but I received an automated reply when I filed my protest to the effect that they are currently receiving a high volume of protests so I may receive a delayed response.

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[opnwide]

Got my denial today as well for the $2000, "GVWR not in the allowable range for the vehicle type selected" which was the Light Duty Passenger Vehicle option I chose. @tomis916 , when you did your online appeal, did you send also any charts/references from the State which shows the proper amount claimed?

for instance:

 

[zefram47]

Got my denial today as well for the $2000, "GVWR not in the allowable range for the vehicle type selected" which was the Light Duty Passenger Vehicle option I chose. @tomis916 , when you did your online appeal, did you send also any charts/references from the State which shows the proper amount claimed?

This is getting ridiculous. Last year no one seemingly had an issue getting the credit on a Rivian. Now it seems like everyone is getting denied and no one has so far gotten a straight answer.

 

[tomis916]

I probably should have, but instead, I referenced the statute:

CRS §39-22-516 (8.3)(b) provides for a tax credit for Category 7 – “Light-duty passenger motor vehicles over 8,500 GVWR” of $2,000 for income tax years commencing 1/1/2023 but before 1/1/2024.​

I wrote a bunch of other stuff (mostly focused on why my R1S meets their definition of a Category 7 Electric Truck) since I was unclear what their objection was, but I also walked them through the instructions for Form DR 0617:

As previously noted, this conclusion is consistent with the guidance set forth in Income Tax Topics: Innovative Truck Credit (Revised February 2024). The amount of the claimed credit is also consistent with the instructions provided for the 2023 Form DR 0617, Innovative Motor Vehicle Credit and Innovative Truck Credit for Line 10. These instructions indicate that Table 1 should be used to determine the amount of your credit. Table 1 provides that a credit of $2,000 is available for the purchase of a Category 7 Electric Truck which also falls within the guidelines for a Light-Duty Passenger Motor Vehicle with a GVWR greater than 8,500 pounds.​

I'm wondering if they are confused with the $2,000 credit for "Electric Motor Vehicles" which are considered "Category 1" electric vehicles under the statute and must weigh less than 8,500 pounds. The reason I suspect this is that in my rejection notice, they told me twice to read Income Tax Topics: Innovative Motor Vehicle Credit which only applies to Category 1 vehicles.

I noted in my protest:

... given the DOR notice references to Income Tax Topics: Innovative Motor Vehicle Credit, we would like to note that we do not believe this Tax Topic is relevant to our fact pattern in that it is intended to address credits claimed for Category 1 motor vehicles.​

Did they also reference the Innovative Motor Vehicle Credit tax topic in your notice?

 

[opnwide]

Thanks @tomis916 . I just submitted my online appeal with that form I referenced and marked up above as well as a photo of my Vehicle Equipment Label in the door sill showing the GVWR and VIN.

Automated response: " Thank you for submitting your protest to the Colorado Department of Revenue. We will process your protest in the order in which it was received. Protest volume is significant, and it can take several weeks to respond. Be sure to check your email and/or mailbox regularly. Please do not submit multiple protests, as this may only delay our response time."

 

[tomis916]

Thanks @tomis916 . I just submitted my online appeal with that form I referenced and marked up above as well as a photo of my Vehicle Equipment Label in the door sill showing the GVWR and VIN.

Automated response: " Thank you for submitting your protest to the Colorado Department of Revenue. We will process your protest in the order in which it was received. Protest volume is significant, and it can take several weeks to respond. Be sure to check your email and/or mailbox regularly. Please do not submit multiple protests, as this may only delay our response time."

I sent the same picture.

 

[opnwide]

Clearly, when you fill out your CO taxes for DR0617, it seems they omitted a category box to check, "Light-Duty Electric Trucks (for Passenger Motor Vehicles)". I did what I thought was right and checked "Light-Duty Passenger Motor Vehicles", but by doing so, it seems to slip you into the Category 1 vehicle column instead of the Category 7 column.

 

[zefram47]

Clearly, when you fill out your CO taxes for DR0617, it seems they omitted a category box to check, "Light-Duty Electric Trucks (for Passenger Motor Vehicles)". I did what I thought was right and checked "Light-Duty Passenger Motor Vehicles", but by doing so, it seems to slip you into the Category 1 vehicle column instead of the Category 7 column.

Interesting. Wonder if they'll recognize their mistake and correct the form ASAP.

 

[tomis916]

Or they might just reject all credit claims with some very vague wording…

 

[Warmoth]

Where is tom martino?

 

[ShockaKhan]

This looks like it may end up with us not getting credits and I don’t know who to be more pissed at, DOR or Rivian. Clearly thousands of these are being sold in Colorado with a presumption of tax credit being claimed.

 

[Warmoth]

This looks like it may end up with us not getting credits and I don’t know who to be more pissed at, DOR or Rivian. Clearly thousands of these are being sold in Colorado with a presumption of tax credit being claimed.

Not sure if it's really Rivian's fault. I'd blame DOR.

Maybe all of us can protest at the DOR office.

 

[opnwide]

Still no reply on my protest, but I did fire off an email to [email protected] with the subject line, "CO Department of Revenue incorrectly denying Colorado EV Rivian owners of $2000 Innovative Motor Credit" and attached all relevant copies of the DR0617 marked up in red I posted earlier in this thread along with the missing option of "Light-Duty Electric Trucks (for Passenger Motor Vehicles)".

Can't hurt if anyone else denied wants to fire off a similar email to his office to gain more traction, [email protected]

Not sure who higher up at Rivian can advocate for CO here?

 

[gokcabaga]

give them a call and see what is going on. May not hurt to call before responding and see if they can advise you of what specifically will satisfy that GVWR proof requirement

Has anyone tried calling CDOR yet?

I deferred my delivery to 2024 so this isn't my battle yet, but if it were I'd start with the number in https://tax.colorado.gov/contact-us

 

[DBL-R]

Has anyone tried calling CDOR yet?

I deferred my delivery to 2024 so this isn't my battle yet, but if it were I'd start with the number in https://tax.colorado.gov/contact-us

This morning I called CO DOR(303-238-7378 then selected option 1,1,1,4,0) because I wanted to resolve the denied letter and reason for adjustment (see photo). I thought for sure that it was because my accountant filed for the $5000 and selected the wrong vehicle. After being on hold for an hour. I was assisted by a wonderful young man (Benito), he even set my account up on www.colorado.gov/revenueonline. He told me that the reason it was rejected was that we did not attach my registration (didn't know that we had to). So we worked together to attach it electronically and he said to allow 3-4 weeks for processing and then to check the website for any status changes. Here is the kicker, my registration does not show a GVWR (8532) only the Empty Weight of 7033. I am hoping that they use the Empty Weight which would make the credit $5K, not $2K.

Stay Tuned!
Ron

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