Hybrid Tax Credits Federal And State Programs Combined Cost Billions In Credits September 27, 2012
EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO C L I C K T O P L A Y
Both Uncle Sam and state lawmakers want you to drive a hybrid or electric vehicle.
Whether it's the Toyota Prius, the Chevy Volt or some other set of wheels using alternative fuel, the government is offering tax breaks to help you go green on the highway.
With the stated purpose of reducing pollution, lessening the country's dependance on foreign oil and using our own abundant natural resources, there are federal and state tax breaks in place each offering up to 75-hundred dollars off of an electric or hybrid vehicle.
But these vehicles are expensive. Base Prius models cost about 25-grand. The sticker price on a Chevrolet Volt is about 38-thousand.
The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates federal tax credits for electric and hybrid vehicles will cost the country about 7 and a half billion dollars by 2019.
On the state level, the cost isn't nearly so steep.
Deputy Secretary Mark Muchow/W.Va. Dept. of Revenue: To date for the '11 year which is reflected in returns that have been filed here in '12, not all returns have been filed, about a half a million dollars so far has come through.
West Virginia had a similar decade-long program starting in the mid 90's. The final bill for those tax credits was 1-point-3 million dollars.
Deputy Secretary Muchow says there's really no way of knowing what the current program will ultimately cost when it expires in ten years.
Deputy Secretary Mark Muchow/W.Va. Dept. Of Revenue: So it's going to depend upon the markets. Electric is probably right now the most popular car. Part of that has to do with the federal tax credit policy. So it depends on changes in federal policy. If the federal policy enhances the program at the federal level it has an impact on West Virginia. If the federal tax credit were to go away it would have an impact on West Virginia. Some of these electric cars are pretty pricey.
The current state tax credit program is set to be in effect for ten years.
LINKS
Senate spent at least $381k since 2011 printing feel-good declarations The U.S. Senate has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on printing costs associated with passing simple resolutions declaring observances such as "National Chess Day," "National Safe Digging Month" and the "Year of Water."
CBO: Federal debt to double in 15 years Federal debt will double by the middle of the next decade and reach more than twice the size of the entire U.S. economy by 2037 unless Congress changes course on taxes and spending, the Congressional Budget Office said in its latest analysis.
Top GSA official tried to hide report on Vegas bash A top administrator at the General Services Administration who worked on President Obama's presidential transition team sought to keep secret the agency report that uncovered massive waste at a lavish taxpayer-funded GSA conference in Las Vegas, records show.
VP Biden Spends $1 Million Annually for Weekend Trips Important: The cost of flying Air Force Two is $22,000 an hour, so each half-hour trip to or from Delaware costs about $10,000. Each golf game costs taxpayers $20,000. At that rate, the annual cost to taxpayers of Biden's weekend trips is well over $1 million.
GSA Paid $1 Million in Bonuses to Staff Under Investigation The General Services Administration paid more than $1 million in bonuses to employees while they were being investigated for wrongdoing by the agency's inspector general, a U.S. lawmaker said.
Is TSA Wasting Millions of Your Tax Dollars? A new congressional report accuses the Transportation Security Administration of mismanaging its acquisition and management of airport screening equipment by storing millions of dollars in high-tech gear in a Texas warehouse instead of deploying it to airports
AP Exclusive: Waste watchdog got no-bid contract Gov. Rick Scott's chief of staff helped steer a no-bid consulting contract worth $360,000 to a friend who now leads a task force rooting out state government waste. Steve MacNamara was still working for the Florida Senate when he recommended Sarasota business consultant Abraham Uccello for the contract to streamline the Legislature's computer systems.
news@wchstv.com
