Tax exemptions for alternative fuel vehicles and plug-in hybrids

In 2019, Washington State reinstated the sales and use tax exemption for the sales of vehicles powered by a clean alternative fuel and certain plug-in hybrids.

The exemption applies to dealer and private sales of new, used, and leased vehicles sold on or after August 1, 2019.

  • New vehicle transactions must not exceed $45,000 in purchase price or lease payments
  • Used vehicles transactions must not exceed $30,000 in fair market value or lease payments

You cannot use a trade-in to lower the price of a vehicle to meet the exemption limits.

If you have questions, you can call the Department of Revenue's (DOR) Tax Assistance line at 360-705-6705.

Example

If the cost of a new vehicle is $48,000, and the value of your trade-in is worth $6,000, you can't receive the tax exemption. Even though the trade-in brought the cost down to $42,000, the new vehicle was still worth over the $45,000 limit.

Related laws and other resources

Need additional help? Here's how to contact us:

call Phone: 360-902-3770
(TTY: Call 711)
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