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Used cars and leases: why they don’t qualify
Two of the most common disappointments. Neither a used car nor a lease qualifies for this deduction — here’s the detail.
Used vehicles — excluded
The law requires the vehicle’s “original use” to begin with you. If anyone used, titled, or registered it before you — including a dealer demo or a “like-new” trade-in — it doesn’t qualify. IRSCALT
Leases — excluded
Lease payments are specifically excluded. IRS And if you later buy the car at lease-end, that purchase is a used vehicle — so it doesn’t qualify either. Thomson Reuters
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Don’t confuse this with the separate (now-ended) used-EV credit. For the car-loan interest deduction, used = no, full stop.
Buying new instead? Run the eligibility checker.