The IRS Energy Credits Online (ECO) Portal
In 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) created the Energy Credits Online (ECO) portal as a free online platform for auto dealers and sellers to claim clean vehicle tax credits. The ECO portal is a simple and secure way for auto dealers and sellers to verify their identity, submit time-of-sale reports and register for advance payments within 72 hours.
What Actions Can be Taken on the ECO Portal?
With a registered account on the ECO portal, dealers and sellers can take all the steps needed to submit required information to the IRS for clean vehicle tax credits under IRC 30D (pertaining to qualified two- or three-wheeled plug-in electric vehicles) and/or IRC 25E (pertaining to previously-owned clean vehicles), including:
- Registering the dealership
- Reviewing registration details
- Updating business information
- Designating access to other authorized employees
- Submitting time-of-sale reports for new vehicles
- Reviewing submitted time-of-sale reports
- Receive transferred credits from customers and advance payments from the IRS
- Submit time-of-sale reports for used vehicles
Time-of-Sale Reports, Advance Payments, Returns and Cancellations
One of the key applications of the ECO portal is submitting time-of-sale reports. Auto dealers and sellers are required to submit time-of-sale reports to the IRS in real time, showing the vehicles that were placed in service and the tax year in which the taxpayer received delivery of each vehicle.
Via the ECO portal, auto dealers can also register with the IRS to receive advance payments (processed via pay.gov) of clean vehicle credits after submitting time-of-sale reports. Dealers may receive advance payments about 15 days after a successful advance payment registration.
Sometimes, time-of-sale reports must be corrected after being submitted – typically, if a report is issued in error, a sale is suddenly cancelled or a vehicle is returned (i.e. the vehicle was not actually placed in service). If a vehicle was not placed in service within 48 hours of the original submission of the time-of-sale report, dealers can simply void the report. If the vehicle was not placed in service and it has been longer than the 48-hour void period, dealers must instead cancel the applicable time-of-sale report within the ECO portal.
Time-of-sale report cancellations typically require a repayment of any advanced credit payments that were made. Dealers who must repay an advance payment for a cancelled time-of-sale report will receive an invoice from pay.gov via the email they provided when registering for the advance payment program. Dealers should expect the vehicle identification numbers (VINs) for vehicles that were not placed in service to be available for a new credit transfer transaction approximately two to three weeks after submitting the return or cancellation in the portal.
Dealers who mistakenly submitted time-of-sale reports after applying credit transfers at the time of sale must request assistance from the IRS to correct those submissions. The affected dealers will work with the IRS to establish that their customers knowingly made voluntary credit transfers and that all legal requirements of the advance program were satisfied.
Auto dealers and sellers should note that all time-of-sale reports must be submitted through the ECO portal for vehicles placed in service in 2024 and beyond.
Time-of-Sale Reporting Issues
As the 2025 tax deadline nears, some customers who purchased clean vehicles in 2024 have been unable to claim their clean vehicle tax credits due to missing time-of-sale reports, which dealers were required to submit within three days of the transaction. Currently, dealers cannot generate or submit these reports for 2024 sales, leaving customers without credits and dealers at risk of financial loss. Industry advocates are urging the IRS to reopen a window for late submissions, resolve remaining portal issues and improve dealer communication through the ECO portal. Brown Plus will update this blog post with more information on these time-of-sale reporting issues as it becomes available.
Secure Messaging Tool
In addition to time-of-sale reporting and requesting advance payments, another key function of the ECO portal is secure messaging with the IRS. Formerly, dealers were advised to contact the IRS via email. Now, they are advised to contact and submit files to the IRS via a new two-way messaging tool within the ECO portal, simply called Secure Messaging. Dealers must simply accept the terms of Secure Messaging upon their first interaction with the tool.
How to Register Your Dealership on the ECO Portal
The IRS has a step-by-step registration guide for new and used clean vehicle dealers and sellers. The IRS uses digital wallet provider, ID.me, to provide verification and sign-in services for the portal. If users already have an existing account through ID.me, they may use that login to access the ECO portal. If not, dealers and sellers must verify their personal identity to create a new account.
After signing in, users will receive instructions on how to register their business. Dealers and sellers will need to be an authorized representative of the business and have the following information available in order to register:
- Business employer ID number (EIN)
- Business name and address
- If you are a licensed dealer who receives advance payments, you will need your dealership’s license number, bank routing and account numbers.
If you have any questions on creating an account for the ECO portal, please reference the IRS’ frequently asked questions page. If you have any questions related to electric vehicle tax credits, please contact an advisor at Brown Plus.