IRS rejects my Clean Vehicle Tax Credit due to no Clean Vehicle Seller Report from Rivian

[itiming]

IRS rejected my 2024 tax return, for claiming the clean vehicle tax credit, as they did not have a Clean Vehicle Seller Report (from Rivian) matching my VIN.

After several contacts to Rivian, an inside delivery guide replied with the following email:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi Charles,

When you took delivery on 4/16/2024, you would have received an email with a copy of their Clean Vehicle Seller's Report and instructions to sign within 3 days of delivery to have this sale reported to the IRS. Since your seller's report went unsigned, we did not report this sale to the IRS. You will need to work with the local tax professional to confirm if there is anything you can do to claim the Federal EV Tax Credit at this time.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I signed the Purchase agreement (online) and have that copy. I got back to Rivian explaining that I did not receive a Clean Vehicle Seller Report/email, but did sign the OneSpan Sign Consent and Disclosure (have the eSign document)

Thanks to anyone who offers advice on possible options to pursue for obtaining the tax credit?

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[Dark-Fx]

What was the MSRP on your vehicle? The IRS hasn't exactly been great with handling the EV credits after the IRA changes.

 

[itiming]

$75,500

 

[7cupholders]

I am in exact same boat. Got my delivery on 04/17/24. I do the have the request to sign on 4/18/24 but there’s no record of signing. ( possible, but I’m definitely not one to leave money on the table for a few clicks) I was able to get my form 15400 from the new guide folks ) this is the 2023 form. It seems like a Rivian process. In 2024 they just had to enter the info into IRS ECO and provide a receipt.
I ended up filing without the credit and signing up for emails for “e-News for Clean Vehicle Industry - one story” at https://public.govdelivery.com/ . There is a chance that they will open a small window for retroactive submission from dealer due the vast amount of folks who got screwed over by local dealers. I’ve let my Inside delivery guide know and just have my fingers crossed. I feel your pain. Take a peek at reddit and you can see a lot of folks across the EV 2024 spectrum are feeling the same burn.

 

[DeafPug]

This is unfortunate that with the new rules, the inaction of a 3rd party (the dealer/seller) can mess up your ability to claim the credit. Particularly since there doesn't seem to be a good way for the buyer to verify that the proper forms were submitted to the IRS at the time of purchase. You only find out MONTHS later when the IRS rejects the tax credit and there is nothing you can do because you missed a nebulous deadline that was impossible to verify was properly met.

 

[Riviot]

Same boat, I told Rivian I need a Form 15400 completed since they failed to do the right paperwork up front. I never got a link to that doc. Even if I did and failed to sign, it's really easy for them to complete the form, it's super basic info.

 

[NeverFollow]

Same boat, I told Rivian I need a Form 15400 completed since they failed to do the right paperwork up front. I never got a link to that doc. Even if I did and failed to sign, it's really easy for them to complete the form, it's super basic info.

It is clear that the minute the car is sold, the dealer will not spend any more time on it.

 

[Riviot]

It is clear that the minute the car is sold, the dealer will not spend any more time on it.

It was pulling teeth getting a corrected MCO. They kept failing to sign the right spot on the back. It was playing Who's on First with the paperwork staff, who you can't speak to directly, and having to get basic customer service to pass the info over and over. 3 months.

 

[itiming]

No contact back from Rivian Inside Delivery Guide since February, so seems unlikely Rivian will provide a time-of-sale report per IRS guidelines here:

How to claim a clean vehicle tax credit

Since IRS has a time-of-sale report for my VIN, I suspect that a time-of-sale report was filed on my VIN from a prior sale that did not work out. So, when I sent my tax return, it rejected the clean vehicle tax credit, as my taxpayer ID did not match the one on the IRS time-of-sale report.

As noted by 7cupholders, 2024 sales can be updated through the IRS ECO portal tool. So, Rivian should be able to cancel that prior unsuccessful sale, and update with my sale. But, Rivian has apparently ended communication with me on this issue.

My last hope is to get IRS a file/info explaining that my purchase agreement is valid and the VIN meets the tax credit. This would need to be resolved before re-submitting my tax return. With the current IRS turmoil and Rivian's refusal to correct the time-of-sale report - I can use my time spent in probably & statistics class to guess how likely a successful tax credit application will be.

 

[DeafPug]

File a dealer complaint with the State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation. I doubt it would do anything, but it might make you feel better.

https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/dmv/cons-protect/file-cmplnt/filedealercomplaint.aspx

(assuming the sale was done out the Wisconsin office - for example, they don't do transactions out of Kansas, so even with a delivery in Kansas, all of my paperwork was from the factory in Illinois; if that's the case, similar, but for Illinois instead)

 

[LunArch]

Same here - never got the email from OneSpan and I’m also not sure why Rivian made it their process to get a customers signature before filing the sale with the IRS. The way I read it was that form 15400 is more “for your records”, not sign it before we can submit it to the portal. Adding a 3rd party adds another point of failure.

Anyway after some back and forth with Rivian chat I got a copy of my 15400 and called the IRS and was pointed to an article on their FAQs where last resort was paper filing. There’s some reddit discussion in the F150 Lightning threads where similar was suggested. Ended up paper filing last week with form 8936 completed and 15400, purchase agreement and current registration attached. I also included a quick summary statement of why I was including the attachments and called out their use of a third party.

It’ll be weeks/months to process but it’s worth the effort to try and ensure we get the credit.

 

[Cascadian]

Could this be the solution?

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/nx-s1-5341550/irs-ev-ta-credit-2024-solution

 

[Riviot]

Could this be the solution?

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/26/nx-s1-5341550/irs-ev-ta-credit-2024-solution

Only if Rivian actually does it, and communicates it to customers. I get no response to my written comms, and they did away with chat so...

I've submitted another written request, we'll see if anyone actually happens. We're 3 weeks out so they better get on it.

 

[BettyWhite]

So I reached out to Rivian and they have sent me my unsinged Clean Vehicle Seller Report with this note:

---------------------------
Hi XXXXX,

Here is your blank Clean Vehicle Sellers Report that was not signed by you within 3 days of you taking ownership as per the program instructions. that request for you to sign withing that time frame was sent to you 3/18/2024 at 1:16 PM CST. We cannot advise you on submission through your Tax Preparer to the IRS, but this document will not match our portal we make available to the IRS at this time.

Thank you,
Thank you,

Randy and the rest of the team; Gretchen, Wendy, Josh, Zach
Sr. Inside Delivery Guides
-------------------------------------

I have now seen multiple articles about the IRS opening the ECO portal so dealers can update the VINs in the system retroactively as this program was confusing to many. I asked many times about the process during purchase and delivery and was never told to look for an email 2 days after delivery which would then need to be e-signed within 3 days... What a mess. When I bought a Tesla in 2023 my forms were located in my Tesla account, easy as that.

Has anyone been successful to get Rivian to put their VIN in the system later than the original 3 days e-signed email?

 

[NY_Rob]

There is another thread about this same issue here: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/did-i-lose-my-tax-credit.26761/#post-763870

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