House votes Wednesday for bill with plug-in hybrid tax break
Late last year, the Energy Bill (and the new CAFE standard contained within) was passed and signed into law. Some things in the original Energy Bill didn't survive the Congressional process, though, like stopping tax breaks for oil companies. The House has now crafted a new "Energy Tax Package" bill that could mean tax breaks for plug-in hybrids. The bill will be debated this week, with a vote scheduled for Wednesday. Stay tuned for updates.[Source: CNN]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 12:12PM (2/25/2008)
Here's the deal:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/110/februarybillsummary.pdf
Interesting reading.
Reply
Lascelles Linton 12:23PM (2/25/2008)
Thanks Tim!
Reply
KarenRei 12:50PM (2/25/2008)
Will it cover pure BEVs as well, or just PHEVs?
Reply
Lascelles Linton 12:55PM (2/25/2008)
KarenRei, If the bill passes at all, it will probably change but (from the pdf)...
Plug-in hybrid vehicle credit. The bill establishes a new credit for each qualified plug-in
hybrid vehicle placed in service during each taxable year by a taxpayer. The base amount of the
credit is $4,000. If the qualified vehicle draws propulsion from a battery with at least 5 kilowatt
hours of capacity, the credit amount is increased by $200, plus another $200 for each kilowatt
hour of battery capacity in excess of 5 kilowatt hours up to 15 kilowatt hours. Taxpayers may
claim the full amount of the allowable credit up to the end of the first calendar quarter after the
quarter in which the manufacturer records 60,000 sales. The credit is reduced in following
quarters. The credit is available against the alternative minimum tax (AMT). This proposal is
estimated to cost $1.3 billion over ten years.
Reply
tankd0g 1:13PM (2/25/2008)
Free market FTW.
Reply
Tim 1:15PM (2/25/2008)
I like bills that give tax credits or simply reduce taxes for PEOPLE not corporations AND are NOT loaded down with extraneous pet pork projects as a way for politicians to "repay" supporters. Bribery is BAD!
Direct taxpayer payments to for-profit corporations are also BAD policy because it kills competition which increases costs, retards innovation and lowers quality. Again, bribery is BAD!
We don't need the Line Item Veto as that would transfer too much power from the Legislative branch to the Executive branch and the Executive branch has usurped too much power via UNCONSTITUTIONAL Executive Orders and Signing Statements as it is. Why is NOBODY doing anything to stop this?
We need MORE transparency and more PERSONAL accountability in gov't. Unfortunately, these career politicians have passed laws so they can’t be sued. What redress do we have when only these Elitists can afford to market themselves during elections and they have placed their friends in the Judiciary?
Gov't is there to protect OUR privacy. Not the other ways around as so many politicians insist.
Are “We, the People SCREWED?
Reply
zaedrus 1:37PM (2/25/2008)
From top to bottom, very VERY well said, Tim.
Reply
SkiD666 2:29PM (2/25/2008)
I guess it's a lucky thing that the $5200 tax credit on the Volt matches up to the estimated price increase of $30,000 to $35,000. Coincidence?
Reply
KarenRei 3:04PM (2/25/2008)
I wish they were basing it on electric *range* rather than kWh. I'm buying an Aptera, and due to its extremely low drag and light weight, it only needs a 10 kWh pack to go 120 miles -- twice as energy efficient as, say, the MiEV.
Oh well. I'll gladly deduct $5200 from my taxes. :)
Reply
GoodCheer 3:06PM (2/25/2008)
This bill will also make the hybrid Aptera about the price of a base-model Prius.
Yummy.
Reply
Tim 3:49PM (2/25/2008)
KarenRei- You make a very good point. However, your mistake is assuming that politicians use logic. When in fact, they ONLY understand financial & political support in other words... bribes. Kind of like prostitutes. You know, “You scratch my back…”
Anyway, that support now is coming from GE and other small (wink) supporters of electricity who want us to use MORE of their product so THEY promote quantity NOT efficiency. The politician can “return the favor” to GE and still appear “green” to the naïve peon voter.
At LEAST GE and other giant for-profit corporations are NOT getting DIRECT taxpayer payments from these politicians for research & development etc., right?
They are? Oh, never mind.
That would STOP if we held the politicians personally accountable and FORCED them to follow the 10th Amendment. Of course, we won’t because 1) we’re lazy Sheeple and 2) we LIKE it when they redistribute TO us as long as we don’t think about how that money was stolen from our family, friends and neighbors.
After all, it IS “government” money anyway isn’t it? I mean, they did not take anyone else’s hard labor, did they? We did NOT work from January through May for NOTHING, did we?
Are there ANY politicians running for office that would “CHANGE” this? NO.
So much for campaign promises.
Reply
L.Wood 10:07AM (2/26/2008)
We need a plug in Congress. That way we can just pull the plug on these worthless morons. We need to be winning a war against wacko Islamic extremists, and these A-Holes are spending their time trying to figure out how to plug in a car to a wall socket. Ain't life grand.
Reply
Chris M 10:39PM (2/26/2008)
L.Wood, did it ever occur to you that plug-in cars would mean less oil imports, thus less oil revenue going to oil producing islamic nations?
It is a simple concept, is it beyond your understanding?
Reply