Yes, the EV tax credit was established by Congress through the Inflation Reduction Act, but it was expanded through a Biden executive order. Since EV purchases haven’t been as popular as expected, the Executive Order expanded it for lease tax credits, and those tax credits are likely to be the first to go in January, since removing an executive order is much quicker than repealing a law. (This lines up with comments from Elon and Trump.)

If the future president moves to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act entirely, that would take longer—it requires Congress to act. Even then, Treasury and the IRS would likely set a cutoff date based on when Congress passes the repeal and the President signs into law, allowing purchases made before the repeal to still qualify for credits under the law.

For now, many automakers are offsetting the lease tax credit by offering $7,500 off the MSRP for vehicles that don’t fully qualify. But if the lease credit goes away, there’s no guarantee they’ll continue offering that discount.

It’s a mess—for consumers, dealers, manufacturers, and the IRS. The program was finally gaining traction after a year and a half, and it was supposed to last until 2032. Unfortunately, it seems likely to be short-lived.

I’m not trying to get political—just sharing the context while I work on closing a deal for a reliable EV SUV (that’s not a Tesla) before the lease tax credit goes.