Back on the first of January of this year, Honda's hybrid tax credits began their slide down towards zero due to the fact that the automaker passed sixty-thousand hybrid sales. While you can argue with the reasoning behind the credits in the first place along with the arbitrary number of people who will get them, but the rules are what they are. So, starting on July 1, the tax credit for any Honda hybrid vehicle will be halved yet again, bringing the available credit to just one-fourth of the original level.

As of today, the Honda Civic hybrid gets a credit of $1,050. From July 1 to December 31, that credit will be $525. Don't complain too much, though, as the credit will officially run out on January 1, 2009. Ford, General Motors and Nissan have yet to hit the magic sixty-thousand number, so the full credit still applies for those manufacturers. Toyota hybrids are no longer eligible for any credit at all, as it has sold way too many Priuses to qualify any longer.

[Source: FuelEconomy.gov]

We know that, because of the Prius' popularity, Toyota and Lexus hybrid vehicles will lose their IRS tax credits at the end beginning of October. We've also know it was likely that Honda would finally sell 60,000 hybrids in the U.S. and so begin the mandated halving of IRS tax credits .The IRS and Honda have now announced that this has indeed come to pass (61,625 as of the end of July) and so, starting on January 1, 2008, the tax credits will be sliced in half. Until that day, tax credits are as follows:

• Honda Accord Hybrid Model Year 2005 $650
• Honda Accord Hybrid, Model Year 2007 $1,300
• Honda Accord Hybrid Navi Model Year 2007 $1,300
• Honda Civic Hybrid Model Year 2007 $2,100

For the first half of 2008, these credits will be half of the amount listed. In the second half, take off another 50 percent. Once we get to 2009, unless the laws change, no Honda hybrid will qualify for any IRS tax credits.

Related:

• Year to date sales of hybrid models, Honda close to 60,000 tax-break limit
• 2008 Mazda Tribute hybrid SUVs will qualify for tax credit
• Where federal rebates for Toyota and Lexus hybrids stand as of Oct. 1, 2006

[Source: IRS, Honda]