8911 Instructions for Form 8911

Instructions for Form 8911

Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service

(Rev. March 2020)

(For use with Form 8911 (Rev. February 2020), Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling
Property Credit)
Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless
otherwise noted.

Future Developments

For the latest information about developments related to
Form 8911 and its instructions, such as legislation enacted
after they were published, go to IRS.gov/Form8911.

What's New
Credit extension. The section 30C alternative fuel vehicle
refueling property credit was retroactively extended to cover
refueling property placed in service in 2018, 2019, and 2020.
Periodic updating. Form 8911 and its instructions will no
longer be updated annually. Instead, they’ll only be updated
when necessary. Use these instructions and Form 8911
(Rev. February 2020) for tax years beginning in 2018 or
2019.
For 2018 returns, use Form 8911 (Rev. February

TIP 2020) instead of the 2018 Form 8911 because it has
lines 1 through 7 available, if needed.

General Instructions
Purpose of Form

Use Form 8911 (Rev. February 2020) to figure your credit for
alternative fuel vehicle refueling property you placed in
service during your tax year beginning in 2018 or 2019. The
credit attributable to depreciable property (refueling property
used for business or investment purposes) is treated as a
general business credit. Any credit not attributable to
depreciable property is treated as a personal credit.
Partnerships and S corporations must file this form to
claim the credit. All other taxpayers aren’t required to
complete or file this form if their only source for this credit is a
partnership or S corporation. Instead, they can report this
credit directly on line 1s in Part III of Form 3800, General
Business Credit.

Amount of Credit

For property of a character subject to an allowance for
depreciation (business/investment use property), the credit
for all property placed in service at each location is generally
the smaller of 30% of the property’s cost or $30,000. For
property of a character not subject to an allowance for
depreciation placed in service at your main home (personal
use property), the credit for all property placed in service at
your main home is generally the smaller of 30% of the
property’s cost or $1,000.
Each property’s cost must first be reduced by any section
179 expense deduction taken for the property.

Feb 18, 2020

Qualified Alternative Fuel Vehicle
Refueling Property

Qualified alternative fuel vehicle refueling property is any
property (other than a building or its structural components)
used for either of the following.
• To store or dispense an alternative fuel (defined below)
other than electricity into the fuel tank of a motor vehicle
propelled by the fuel, but only if the storage or dispensing is
at the point where the fuel is delivered into that tank.
• To recharge an electric vehicle, but only if the recharging
property is located at the point where the vehicle is
recharged.
In addition, the following requirements must be met to
qualify for the credit.
• You placed the refueling property in service during your
tax year.
• The original use of the property began with you.
• The property isn’t used predominantly outside the United
States.
• If the property isn’t business/investment use property, the
property must be installed on property used as your main
home.
Exception. If you are the seller of new refueling property to
a tax-exempt organization, governmental unit, or a foreign
person or entity, and the use of that property is described in
section 50(b)(3) or (4), you can claim the credit, but only if
you clearly disclose in writing to the purchaser the amount of
the tentative credit allowable for the refueling property
(included on line 7 of Form 8911). Treat all property eligible
for this exception as business/investment use property. If you
elect to claim the credit, you must reduce cost of goods sold
by the amount you entered on line 7 for that property.
Alternative fuel. The following are alternative fuels.
• Any fuel at least 85% of the volume of which consists of
one or more of the following: ethanol, natural gas,
compressed natural gas, liquefied natural gas, liquefied
petroleum gas, or hydrogen.
• Any mixture which consists of two or more of the following:
biodiesel (as defined in section 40A(d)(1)), diesel fuel (as
defined in section 4083(a)(3)), or kerosene, and at least 20%
of the volume of which consists of biodiesel determined
without regard to any kerosene in such mixture.
• Electricity.

Basis Reduction

Unless you elect not to claim the credit, you must reduce the
basis of the property by the sum of the amounts entered on
lines 7 and 13 for that property.

Recapture

If the property no longer qualifies for the credit, you may have
to recapture part or all of the credit. For more details, see
section 30C(e)(5).

Cat. No. 67911K

minimum tax from Form 8801, or any credit to holders of tax
credit bonds from Form 8912).
For 2019, enter the total of any credits on the 2019 Form
1040 or Form 1040-SR, line 13a, and Schedule 3 (Form 1040
or 1040-SR), lines 2 through 6 (not including any general
business credit from Form 3800, any credit for prior year
minimum tax from Form 8801, or any credit to holders of tax
credit bonds from Form 8912).

Specific Instructions
Line 2

To figure the business/investment use part of the total cost,
multiply the cost of each separate refueling property by the
percentage of business/investment use for that property. If
during the tax year you convert property used solely for
personal purposes to business/investment use (or vice
versa), figure the percentage of business/investment use
only for the number of months you use the property in your
business or for the production of income. Multiply that
percentage by the number of months you use the property in
your business or for the production of income and divide the
result by 12.

Form 1040-NR. Enter the total of any credits on lines 47
through 51 (not including any general business credit from
Form 3800, any credit for prior year minimum tax from Form
8801, or any credit to holders of tax credit bonds from Form
8912).
Form 1041, Schedule G. Enter the total of any write-in
credits on line 2e (not including any credits from lines 2a
through 2d).

Line 3

Enter any section 179 expense deduction you took for the
property from Part I of Form 4562, Depreciation and
Amortization.

Line 17

Although you may not owe alternative minimum tax (AMT),
you must still figure the tentative minimum tax (TMT) to figure
your credit. Complete and attach the applicable AMT form or
schedule and enter the TMT on line 17.

Line 6

If you placed refueling property with business/investment use
in service at just one location, enter $30,000.

Line 19

If you placed refueling property with business/investment
use in service at more than one location, but all property
placed in service at any one location would result in an
amount of not more than $30,000 if property from that
location was reported separately on line 5, enter the amount
from line 5 on both line 6 and line 7. If you placed refueling
property with business/investment use in service at more
than one location, and property in at least one location would
result in an amount of more than $30,000 if property from that
location was reported separately on line 5, add the separate
amounts for each location, but don’t include in the total more
than $30,000 for any single location.

If you can’t use part of the personal portion of the credit
because of the tax liability limit, the unused credit is lost. The
unused personal portion of the credit can’t be carried back or
forward to other tax years.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. We ask for the
information on this form to carry out the Internal Revenue
laws of the United States. You are required to give us the
information. We need it to ensure that you are complying with
these laws and to allow us to figure and collect the right
amount of tax.

Line 8

You are not required to provide the information requested
on a form that is subject to the Paperwork Reduction Act
unless the form displays a valid OMB control number. Books
or records relating to a form or its instructions must be
retained as long as their contents may become material in
the administration of any Internal Revenue law. Generally,
tax returns and return information are confidential, as
required by section 6103.

Partnerships and S corporations report the above credits
on line 8. All other filers figuring a separate credit on earlier
lines also report the above credits on line 8. All others not
using earlier lines to figure a separate credit can report the
above credits directly on Form 3800, Part III, line 1s.

The time needed to complete and file this form will vary
depending on individual circumstances. The estimated
burden for individual and business taxpayers filing this form
is approved under OMB control number 1545-0074 and
1545-0123 and is included in the estimates shown in the
instructions for their individual and business income tax
return. The estimated burden for all other taxpayers who file
this form is shown below.

Enter total alternative fuel vehicle refueling property credits
from:
• Schedule K-1 (Form 1065), Partner's Share of Income,
Deductions, Credits, etc., box 15 (code P); and
• Schedule K-1 (Form 1120-S), Shareholder's Share of
Income, Deductions, Credits, etc., box 13 (code P).

Line 12

Generally, enter $1,000. However, if the location of your main
home changed during the tax year and you placed personal
use refueling property in service at both locations during the
tax year, enter $2,000.

Recordkeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Learning about the law or the form . . . . . . . . . .
Preparing and sending the form to the IRS . . . . .

Line 15b

Follow the instructions below and refer to your income tax
return to figure the amount to enter on line 15b.

7 hr., 53 min.
1 hr., 3 min.
2 hr., 26 min.

If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these
time estimates or suggestions for making this form simpler,
we would be happy to hear from you. See the instructions for
the tax return with which this form is filed.

Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR. For 2018, enter the total of
any credits on the 2018 Form 1040, line 12a, and Schedule 3
(Form 1040), lines 49 through 54 (not including any general
business credit from Form 3800, any credit for prior year

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Instructions for Form 8911 (3-2020)