---
title: "The Tesla Tax Credit is Going Away, but Elon Musk has it Covered"
description: "With the tax credit for buying a Tesla set to drop 50 percent in January, Elon Musk just promised to cover the difference for delayed orders."
date: "2018-12-26"
modified: "2018-12-26"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/tesla-tax-credit-musk"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
  - "Elon Musk"
  - "Future Society"
  - "Tesla"
  - "The Industrialists"
tags:
  - "elon musk"
  - "tesla"
  - "transport"
---

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

![Tesla tax credits are going away.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Tesla-Tax.png>)
*\<em\>Image: Credit: Tag Hartman-Simkins\</em\>*

## Taking a Hit

In January, the [tax credit offered to Tesla customers](<https://futurism.com/tesla-dropped-full-self-driving-mode>) 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](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1076554450720837632?s=21>) 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.

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1076554450720837632

## Moving Goalposts

Originally, anyone who ordered a Tesla by October 15 was [guaranteed the full tax credit](<https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/10/tesla-customers-should-order-by-monday-to-lock-in-7500-tax-credit/>). But Tesla later extended the deadline to November 30, a move that *Ars Technica* reported [left customers confused](<https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/12/tesla-to-pay-tax-credit-difference-on-cars-that-miss-year-end-delivery/>) as to whether or not they would [actually get their cars](<https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/does-pre-1130-order-date-guarantee-2018-delivery>) by the end of the year.

Perhaps to help Tesla fulfill orders on time and avoid making that payout, Musk also [tweeted Saturday](<https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1076549215151566848>) 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*](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-tax-credit/elon-musk-says-tesla-to-pay-customers-for-missed-tax-credits-idUSKCN1OM0KQ>), 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](<https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/24/tesla-cut-prices-in-china-and-will-pay-for-missed-tax-credit.html>) *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](<https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-tax-credit/elon-musk-says-tesla-to-pay-customers-for-missed-tax-credits-idUSKCN1OM0KQ>) \[*Reuters*\]

***More on Tesla:*** ***[Tesla’s “Toilet Humor” Mode Is Real and It’s Called “Emissions Testing”](<https://futurism.com/tesla-debuts-romance-toilet-humor-modes>)***

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)