Did you buy an electric car in 20231? If so, TurboTax may have given you incorrect tax advice. Had I followed TurboTax’s advice, I would have missed a $7,500 credit and paid too much in taxes.

For the 2023 tax year, there was a $300,000 modified adjusted gross income (“AGI”) cap2 to qualify for the tax credit. TurboTax incorrectly applied the AGI cap.

The tax code allowed me to use my 2023 or my prior year’s 2022 AGI to qualify for the tax credit. If  either my 2023  or 2022 AGI was less than $300,000 then I qualified for the tax credit.

But TurboTax advised incorrectly. It wrote that “[i]ndividuals can’t claim the credit for a new clean vehicle if their Modified Adjusted Gross income in either 2023 or 2022 is more than [$300,000].”

In other words, the tax code allowed the credit if  either my 2022 or my 2023 AGI was less that $300,000. But TurboTax advised that the tax credit was allowed only if  both my 2022 and my 2023 AGI were less than $300,000. That was false and would have cost me a $7,500 tax credit had I followed that advice.

If you encountered this or a similar problem with TurboTax’s application of AGI limits on the Clean Vehicle Credit, please contact your lawyer or tax professional to correct the mistake.

1The mistake outlined here may also affect the tax credit for electric cars bought in 2024 as TurboTax has not fixed the 2023 advice as of March 25, 2025.

2For married couples filing jointly or a qualifying surviving spouse. Other caps apply to other filers.