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Business Taxes Law Guide—Revision 2024
Sales and Use Tax Annotations
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125.0000 Automobile Dealers and Salesmen—Regulation 1566
Annotation 125.0032
125.0032 Manufacturer's Rebate vs. Dealer's Incentive or Allowance. The manufacturer's rebate is an inducement to the consumer to purchase and is a credit available to be taken as cash or to be applied against the selling price of the vehicle. The consumer may assign the credit to the dealer. Under section 6012, the measure of the sales tax includes any amount for which credit is allowed by the dealer. The dealer collects the amount of the rebate from the manufacturer pursuant to the assignment made to the dealer by the consumer. The consumer rebate may be identified as an additional down payment or may be subtracted directly from the cash price of the vehicle. In both cases, the amount of the rebate is fully subject to tax.
As distinguished from a consumer's rebate, the manufacturer may make incentives or allowances directly to the dealers. These are inducements to the dealer to sell and are payable in the form of discounts on the cost of the vehicle to the dealer. The allowance may be a year-end close-out allowance based on unsold units. The assistance may take the form of incentive price assistance to enable the dealer to bid against competitors. The manufacturer may offer government price concessions or fleet incentives. In all of these cases the incentive or allowance is an inducement to the dealer and results in a reduction of the cost of the vehicle to the dealer. That is, there is a price adjustment between the manufacturer and a dealer as to the wholesale price of the vehicle. The actual amount of factory incentives or allowances or holdbacks may not be disclosed to consumers. In some cases, such incentives or allowances may be passed on dollar-for-dollar to the consumer and may be disclosed to the consumer whether there is intentional disclosure or not. The incentive results in a reduction in the taxable retail selling price of the vehicle, and the measure of sales tax is thus reduced. 2/24/89.