The Tesla Tax Credit is Going Away, but Elon Musk has it Covered

Taking a Hit

In January, the tax credit offered to Tesla customers in the United States will drop 50 percent, from $7,500 to $3,750. That's making buyers who ordered a Tesla this year but got hit by delays grumpy.

But Tesla CEO Elon Musk has come to the rescue. In response a question on Twitter, Musk tweeted Saturday that Tesla will cover the difference for people who ordered on time and "made good faith efforts" to receive cars by the end of the year.

Moving Goalposts

Originally, anyone who ordered a Tesla by October 15 was guaranteed the full tax credit. But Tesla later extended the deadline to November 30, a move that Ars Technica reported left customers confused as to whether or not they would actually get their cars by the end of the year.

Perhaps to help Tesla fulfill orders on time and avoid making that payout, Musk also tweeted Saturday that the company had begun taking some customers' Teslas — those that couldn't be picked up in time — and sending them instead to customers who could.

According to Reuters, Tesla still plans to deliver all orders by the end of the year. But Tesla stock still dropped nearly eight percent on Monday, both because of the tax credit-related discount and because Tesla lowered the price of a Model 3 in China to absorb the costs of international tariffs, according to CNBC — so even if its buyers are happy, the company isn't out of the woods yet.

READ MORE: Elon Musk says Tesla to pay customers for missed tax credits [Reuters]

More on Tesla: Tesla’s “Toilet Humor” Mode Is Real and It’s Called “Emissions Testing”