Oklahoma’s Supreme Court recently ruled that the Garfield County District Court, which had ruled in favor of LSV dealers and customers in October, did not have jurisdiction in the case and vacated that court’s order. For dealers and customers this means that the Oklahoma Tax Commission’s previous letter rulings on qualified vehicles now apply again. Some vehicles purchased with the understanding that they would be eligible for the state tax credit are no longer considered eligible.
It appears that the bulk of the rulings by the commission are not in favor of the manufacturers. For example, the Badboy Buggie XT LSV, the Stealth Patriot LSV, the Fairplay EVE, Fairplay Goat, American Custom Golfcars Hummers H3, American Custom Golfcars Escalade, American Custom Golfcars Roadster Limo and Titan UTV Hunting Buggy do not qualify. Per the commission they do not qualify because…
The term ‘qualified electric motor vehicle property’ shall not apply to vehicles known as ‘golf carts,’ ‘go-carts’ and other motor vehicles which are manufactured principally for use off the streets and highways.
Some of the vehicles that do qualify include:
- Most but not all Bigman models
- Club Car Carryall 2 & 6 LSVs
- Columbia ParCar Mega Truck models and Summit models with enclosures
- All the GEM models
- A few of the Star models
- Wheego Whip
The complete set of ruling letters for twenty-three manufacturers can be found here. Learn more: EdmondSun.com
Comment: When I first spoke with the Oklahoma Tax Commission after their initial ruling they talked about trying to clarify the law and that revenue concerns were not the issue. When they appealed the district court’s ruling they noted that the tax credit could cost the state upwards of $40 million. In my opinion they are trying to avoid losing revenue from tax credits. It would be interesting to see, in detail, how they are deciding which vehicles qualify and which ones don’t. – Marc Cesare
