26 U.S.C. § 30C — Alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credit

(a) Credit allowed: If you place qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling property in service during the tax year, you can claim a credit. It equals 30% of the property's cost — or just 6%, if the property is the kind of business property you depreciate. (b) Limitation: For any single piece of qualifying refueling property, the credit is capped. If the property is depreciable, the cap is $100,000. If it isn't — meaning it's for personal, non-business use — the cap is $1,000. (c) Qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling property: (1) In general: This term borrows its meaning from "qualified clean-fuel vehicle refueling property" as defined in section 179A, with two changes. First, the rule in section 179A(d)(1) that excludes property installed at your main home doesn't apply here — so refueling property at your residence can still qualify. Second, only certain fuels count as "clean-burning" for this purpose: a fuel that's at least 85% (by volume) ethanol, natural gas, compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, or hydrogen; a mixture of two or more of biodiesel, diesel fuel, or kerosene, where at least 20% of the volume (not counting any kerosene) is biodiesel; electricity; or any "transportation fuel" as defined in section 45Z(d)(5). (2) Bidirectional charging equipment: Charging equipment doesn't lose its eligibility just because it can also send power the other way — discharging electricity from a vehicle's battery back out to an external electric load. (3) Property required to be located in eligible census tracts: (A) In general: The property only qualifies if it's placed in service in an "eligible census tract." (B) Eligible census tract: This means a census tract that either qualifies under section 45D(e) (the low-income community definition used for the New Markets Tax Credit), or isn't an "urban area." An "urban area" here means a census tract that the Secretary of Commerce designated as urban, based on the most recent census. (d) Application with other credits: (1) The portion of this credit tied to depreciable business property becomes part of the general business credit under section 38(b), instead of being claimed directly under subsection (a). (2) The rest of the credit — for personal use — is capped. It can't exceed the amount by which your regular tax liability (reduced by certain other personal credits, under section 26(b) and section 27) is more than your tentative minimum tax for the year. (e) Special rules: (1) Reduction in basis: If you claim this credit, you must reduce the property's tax basis by the credit amount. (2) Property used by tax-exempt entity: If a tax-exempt entity uses the property without leasing it, the seller is treated as the taxpayer who placed it in service and can claim the credit — but only if the seller clearly discloses, in writing, the credit amount to the buyer. That property then counts as depreciable property for purposes of subsection (d). (3) Property used outside United States not qualified: No credit for property used mainly outside the U.S., or for costs you already expensed under section 179. (4) Election not to take credit: You can choose not to claim the credit for particular property. (5) Recapture rules: Rules like those in section 179A(e)(4) apply if the property stops qualifying. (6) Reference: Wherever this section refers to section 179A, it means section 179A as it existed right before that section was repealed. (f) Special rule for electric charging stations for certain vehicles with 2 or 3 wheels: (1) In general: "Qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling property" also includes property described in subsection (c) that recharges the kind of small electric vehicle described in paragraph (2) — but only if the property also meets the requirements of subsection (a)(2) and is depreciable business property. (2) Motor vehicle: A vehicle qualifies here if it's built mainly for public street, road, or highway use (not a rail vehicle), has 2 or 3 wheels, and runs on electricity. (g) Wage and apprenticeship requirements: (1) Increased credit amount: (A) In general: If a refueling project meets the requirements in subparagraph (C), the credit for any depreciable property in that project multiplies by 5. (B) Qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling project: This means one or more properties that are all part of one single project. (C) Project requirements: A project qualifies for the 5x multiplier if either: construction starts before the date that's 60 days after the Secretary publishes guidance on the wage and apprenticeship rules below, or the project actually satisfies the prevailing wage requirement in paragraph (2)(A) and the apprenticeship requirement in paragraph (3). (2) Prevailing wage requirements: (A) In general: The taxpayer has to make sure that any laborers or mechanics working for the taxpayer, or for any contractor or subcontractor, on building this property get paid no less than the prevailing local wage rates for similar construction work — the rates the Secretary of Labor most recently set, under the rules in subchapter IV of chapter 31 of title 40. (B) Correction and penalty related to failure to satisfy wage requirements: If the taxpayer doesn't meet this requirement, rules like those in section 45(b)(7)(B) — covering correction and penalty payments — apply. (3) Apprenticeship requirements: Rules like those in section 45(b)(8) apply here too. (4) Regulations and guidance: The Secretary must issue whatever regulations or guidance are needed to carry out this subsection, including rules on recordkeeping and reporting. (h) Regulations: The Secretary must issue whatever regulations are needed to carry out this section generally. (i) Termination: This section doesn't apply to property placed in service after June 30, 2026.