There’s been a change to tax law this year, due to the “One Big Beautiful Bill”. For new cars where the final assembly was in America, the loan on the interest can be taken off as a deduction on your taxes. 

I’m explaining this to all my clients. One of my clients lights up like a Christmas tree display in excitement. He’s bouncing in his chair like a small child, repeating:

Client: “My car was assembled in California! I’m so excited! I have a Californian car!”

He is so innocently excited and happy it makes me smile too, so I decided to excite him a little further.

Me: “You’re going to be my first client ever to actually take this deduction.”

Now he’s repeating:

Client: “My car was assembled in California, and I’m going to be the first!”

Part of the process to take this credit is looking up the VIN to see where the car was assembled. We both eagerly look up the VIN together. The car was manufactured in… 

Baja California, Mexico. 

My client’s face just drops. He isn’t angry, just super disappointed. 

I feel bad for him. I have a stock of candy in my desk so I can reward myself after doing difficult stuff. I hand him a Deutsch chocolate bar as an apology.

He lights up a bit again, albeit not quite so brightly.