SECTION 2. BACKGROUND

1. For owners of passenger automobiles, § 280F(a) imposes dollar limitations on the depreciation deduction for the year that the passenger automobile is placed in service by the taxpayer and each succeeding year. In the case of electric automobiles placed in service after August 5, 1997, and before January 1, 2007, § 280F(a)(1)(C) requires tripling of these limitation amounts. Section 280F(d)(7) requires the amounts allowable as depreciation deductions to be increased by a price inflation adjustment amount for passenger automobiles placed in service after 1988. The method of calculating this price inflation amount for trucks and vans placed in service in or after calendar year 2003 uses a different CPI “automobile component” (the “new trucks” component) than that used in the price inflation amount calculation for other passenger automobiles (the “new cars” component), resulting in somewhat higher depreciation deductions for trucks and vans. This change reflects the higher rate of price

inflation that trucks and vans have been subject to since 1988. For purposes of this revenue procedure, the term “trucks and vans” refers to passenger automobiles that are built on a truck chassis, including minivans and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) that are built on a truck chassis.

2. For leased passenger automobiles, § 280F(c) requires a reduction in the deduction allowed to the lessee of the passenger automobile. The reduction must be substantially equivalent to the limitations on the depreciation deductions imposed on owners of passenger automobiles. Under § 1.280F–7(a), this reduction requires the lessees to include in gross income an inclusion amount determined by applying a formula to the amount obtained from a table. There is a table for lessees of electric automobiles, a table for lessees of trucks and vans, and a table for all other passenger automobiles. Each table shows inclusion amounts for a range of fair market values for each tax year after the passenger automobile is first leased.