Senate Tax Bill Contains Fourfold Increase of SUV Tax Loophole WASHINGTON, DC, May 19, 2003 (ENS) - The $350 billion tax cut passed by the Senate late last week contains a $100,000 tax break for buyers of the largest, least fuel efficient sport utility vehicles (SUVs). This fourfold increase of the existing tax break effectively subsidizes the full purchase price for 38 of the largest and most expensive SUV models on the American road, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "Forget zero-percent financing. This is a six-figure loophole big enough for a Hummer," said Dan Lashof of NRDC. "And that is just what every American taxpayer will be footing the bill for if this measure becomes law." The language in the tax cut bill would allow business owners to deduct up to $100,000 cost of a new, large-size SUV in just one year. The original tax break for large SUVs was intended to help farmers, contractors and other buyers of working trucks, Lashof explained, not the owners of well-heeled luxury vehicles. It applies only to vehicles that weigh more than 6,000 pounds, including the Hummer, the Range Rover and the Cadillac Escalade. The expanded SUV deduction will cost taxpayers billions, according to the congressional Joint Tax Committee, and environmentalists argue the tax break encourages the use of some of the nation's least fuel efficient and most polluting vehicles. The House and the Senate will have to reconcile competing versions of the bill before sending the final bill version to the White House and the SUV tax break increase could still be removed. "It is an unfair subsidy for select buyers of the biggest, most expensive SUVs," Lashof said. "The Senate bill makes us more dependent on Middle East oil at the very time we should be kicking the petroleum addiction." * * * http://ens-news.com/ens/may2003/2003-05-19-09.asp#anchor3 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp