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Obama Seeking Rebates Instead Of Tax Credits For Electric Car Buyers

 
1,943 views Feb 9, 2011
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Currently, buyers of electric cars receive a $7,500 tax credit that they can only realize once they file their taxes, often up to a year after they actually make their purchase. Without a doubt, this has limited the effectiveness of the incentive so it’s not surprising to hear there are many calling for the incentive to be offered at the time of purchase as a direct rebate instead of a tax credit.

Some of those backing the change include the Obama administration, which is seeking reforms to allow the incentive to be claimable at the dealership level.

The information was revealed by David Sandalow, the Department of Energy’s assistant secretary for policy and international affairs, who spoke recently with Bloomberg. He went on to reveal that the new reforms will be included in the president’s budget next week.

The move is part of Obama’s greater plan to get one million electric cars on American roads by 2015, a pledge the President made in last week’s State of the Union address.

Interestingly, the announcement comes just a day after U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., reintroduced a bill, the "Charging America Forward Act," that would provide consumers with a $7,500 rebate within weeks of their purchase of a qualifying vehicle.  

[Bloomberg BusinessWeek]



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Comments (5)

  1. Noel Park Posted: 2/9/2011 12:48pm PST

    Wouldn't that be nice? I wonder if it will be retroactive, as I am supposed to get my Volt about 3/1? With my luck, probably not, LOL. Part of the price of being an "early adopter" (sucker?) I suppose.
     
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  2. JP Posted: 2/10/2011 7:24am PST

    Great News! Does this mean the rebate could be taken prior to paying the sales tax?
    35,000 x .088% = $3080
    35,000 -7500 = $27,500 x .088 = $2420
    That’s about a $650 difference.
     
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  3. B-Man Posted: 2/12/2011 8:30am PST

    Bring this bill on! It seems like it should have been written this way from the start, eh?
     
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  4. wolfdoctor Posted: 2/13/2011 2:20am PST

    JP : "Does this mean the rebate could be taken prior to paying the sales tax?"
    I know in New York rebates are always applied after the sales tax has been added, unfortunately.
     
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  5. Stan Posted: 3/14/2011 9:53pm PDT

    I would like to get a rebate for the Volt I just purchased two weeks ago. Where can I apply? Thanks
     
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