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Congress Extends Tax Breaks for Electric-Car Owners, Motor Speedways

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Electric Car charging parking spot

Photo: byronv2

Electric car owners and motor speedways were treated to a feast of tax breaks in a $400 billion spending bill passed by Congress earlier in February.

Most of the tax breaks were extensions or restorations of already existing benefits that were expiring. They weren’t included in a massive tax-cut bill passed in December, because that legislation had to cost less than $1.5 trillion to pass the Senate with a simple majority of 51 votes.


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Among the benefits for electric-car buyers:2018 Chevrolet Volt

  • Buyers of new hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are eligible for a tax credit ranging from $4,000 to $40,000.
  • Buyers of plug-in electric motorcycles or three-wheeled electric vehicles can receive a credit worth 10 percent of the amount paid, up to $2,500.
  • Taxpayers who buy and install electric-car charging stations for their homes can also claim a credit for 30 percent of the cost, up to $1,000.

Under the tax bill passed in December, buyers of larger plug-ins such as the Chevrolet Bolt and the Tesla Model 3 are already eligible for a credit of up to $7,500.

Meanwhile, “motorsports entertainment complexes”—or race tracks—will get about $37 million in tax breaks. Those savings stem from the extension of a rule that allows speedway owners to write down the value of their assets over a shortened period of seven years, thus trimming their overall taxes.

The race-track tax break got strong support from senators in states that are home to major speedways, such as Michigan, Nevada, Kansas, and North Carolina.

Sources: The Associated Press, The Hill, Green Car Reports


Related: Here’s what the Lunar Rover and the Bolt EV have in common