# The E-BIKE Act: What You Need to Know About the Electric Bicycle Tax Credit

This bill creates a tax credit that gives you money back when you buy an electric bicycle. Specifically, you can get a credit equal to 30 percent of what you paid for a qualified e-bike, up to a maximum credit of $1,500 per bike (since the credit is capped at 30 percent of $5,000). This means if you buy an e-bike that costs $5,000 or more, you'd get the full $1,500 credit. If it costs $3,000, you'd get $900 back.

The credit has some important limits. You can only claim it for one e-bike every two years—so you could buy one this year and another in two years, but not two in the same year (unless you're filing taxes jointly with a spouse, in which case you can do two per year). The e-bike itself must cost no more than $8,000 to qualify. There's also an income limit: if you make more than $150,000 as a single filer, $225,000 as a head of household, or $300,000 filing jointly, the credit starts to phase out. For every $1,000 over these thresholds, your credit reduces by $100.

The bill is specific about what counts as a qualified e-bike. It has to have working pedals, a seat, and an electric motor smaller than 750 watts. The motor can only assist you up to 20 miles per hour (or 28 mph if it only works when you're actively pedaling). It can't have any other motors, and the battery and drive system must meet safety standards. Basically, it needs to look and function like a real bicycle with electric assistance, not a motorcycle.

There's also an interesting option for people who want the credit immediately instead of claiming it on their taxes. If you buy from a registered retailer, you can have the retailer claim the credit instead of you—meaning they'd give you the $1,500 (or whatever the credit is) as a discount right at the point of sale. The retailer then gets reimbursed by the government. This makes the credit work like an instant rebate rather than something you have to wait until tax time to receive.

E-BIKE Act

Panetta, Jimmy

Electric Bicycle Incentive Kickstart for the Environment Act or the E-BIKE Act This bill allows individual taxpayers a new tax credit for 30% of the cost of a qualified electric bicycle. The bill defines qualified electric bicycle to mean a bicycle or tricycle that does not cost more than $8,000 and that is equipped with fully operable pedals, a saddle or seat for the rider, and an electric motor of less than 750 watts designed to assist in propelling the bicycle or tricycle under certain conditions The bill requires the Internal Revenue Service to establish a program to make advance payments of the credit and to publicly report on the number of taxpayers claiming the credit and the aggregate dollar amount of the credit, beginning in 2023 and 2024.