Sellers of clean vehicles should register their dealerships immediately on the Energy Credits Online tool, if they want to be in a position to receive advance payments starting Jan. 1, 2024.

Energy Credits Online or IRS ECO, is a free electronic service that is secure, accurate and requires no special software. Clean vehicle sellers should begin the online enrollment process immediately. The IRS encourages any dealer or seller to register using Energy Credits Online by Dec. 1, 2023, to share in its benefits and ensure that by Jan. 1, 2024, dealers and sellers are ready to submit time-of-sale reports and receive advance payments. The tool will generate a time-of-sale report the taxpayer will use when filing their federal tax return to claim or report the credit.

Beginning in 2024, clean vehicle sellers and licensed dealers must use the tool for their customers to successfully claim or transfer the new or previously owned clean vehicle credit for vehicles placed in service Jan.1, 2024, or later.

To participate and take advantage of the new and used clean vehicle credits available to taxpayers, a dealer must register through the IRS Energy Credits Online tool.  

Initially, only one individual representative of the dealer or seller can complete the registration through IRS Energy Credits Online: That representative must be currently authorized to legally bind the dealer or seller. Future enhancements of the tool will allow dealers and sellers to authorize more than one employee to submit time-of-sale reports and advance payment requests. Authorizing additional employees is an easy update for registered dealers.

More information about clean vehicle credits and tax benefits from the Inflation Reduction Act is available on IRS.gov.