Form IT-253I: Instructions for Form IT-253 Claim for Alternative Fuels Credit (Tax Year 2025)

Form IT-253I is the instruction booklet the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance publishes alongside Form IT-253, Claim for Alternative Fuels Credit. If you’re a business or individual taxpayer in New York who purchased qualified clean-fuel vehicle property, installed alternative fuel vehicle refueling equipment, or invested in electric vehicle recharging equipment during the 2025 tax year, this credit is designed for you. The instructions walk you through eligibility rules, how to calculate the credit amount, and how to properly attach the form to your New York State income tax return.

The Alternative Fuels Credit exists to encourage taxpayers to move away from conventional gasoline and diesel vehicles toward cleaner alternatives. New York allows a credit for a percentage of the cost of qualified clean-fuel vehicle property placed in service, as well as for qualified electric vehicle recharging property. The credit percentages and dollar caps vary depending on the type of property involved, which is why reading through the IT-253I instructions carefully matters before you start filling out numbers on the actual claim form.

Who Needs This Form

Form IT-253 is relevant to a fairly specific group of filers: individuals, partnerships, and corporations that have made a qualifying investment in alternative fuel infrastructure or vehicles within New York State. This includes fleet owners who converted vehicles to run on natural gas, propane, or electricity, property owners who installed EV charging stations for public or business use, and businesses that purchased clean-fuel vehicle property as part of normal operations. If none of these situations apply to you, this particular credit likely isn’t something you need to worry about this filing season.

Partnerships and S corporations that generate this credit pass it through to their partners or shareholders, who then claim their share on their own personal returns. The instructions clarify how that allocation works, along with what supporting documentation you should keep on hand in case the Tax Department requests it later.

When You Use Form IT-253

You use Form IT-253 for the same tax year in which the qualified property was placed in service or the qualifying purchase was made. For the 2025 tax year, that means the vehicle, refueling equipment, or recharging property needs to have gone into service during 2025 for you to claim the credit on your 2025 return. The form attaches to your regular New York State income tax return, whether that’s a Form IT-201 for residents, IT-203 for nonresidents and part-year residents, or the appropriate corporate franchise tax return.

Because the credit interacts with several other New York State tax credits and modifications, some filers also end up dealing with related forms in the same filing package. For example, taxpayers who are also reporting other state-specific additions or subtractions to income might need to reference the instructions for Form IT-225 to properly account for New York modifications alongside this credit claim.

How to Get and Complete the Form

Form IT-253 and its instructions are available directly from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance website as a PDF. This particular form does not support digital data entry — there are no fillable fields built into the PDF. You’ll need to download the document, print it out, and complete it by hand using black ink, then attach it to your paper return or include the relevant figures when filing electronically through approved tax software.

Before filling anything in, read through the IT253I instructions in full. They explain how to calculate the credit basis, apply the correct percentage limits, and carry forward any unused credit if your tax liability isn’t large enough to absorb it in the current year. Businesses claiming multiple New York State credits in the same filing season sometimes find it helpful to also review guidance for other specialized claims, such as the Form IT-256 instructions for the mortgage recording tax credit or the Form IT-261 instructions for the film post-production credit, just to get a sense of how New York structures these supplemental credit forms overall.

Once completed, double-check your arithmetic and make sure the credit amount transfers correctly to the appropriate line on your main return. Keep copies of invoices, purchase agreements, or installation records for the qualified property, since the Tax Department can ask for proof supporting the credit amount claimed.