Number of EVs Eligible for Tax Credits Plummet as U.S. Seeks to Shrink Reliance on China’s Supply Chain

EV VW

The number of electric vehicles (EV) that qualify for tax credits fell from 43 to 19 on Monday following new rules about the number of components in the vehicle that can be made by China and other foreign entities, according to Reuters.

On Dec. 1, 2023, the Treasury Department released guidance for which EVs are eligible for its $7,500 tax credit, requiring vehicles to have at least 60% of battery components and 50% of total critical minerals used not be from a foreign entity of concern like China starting in 2024. Vehicles that are impacted by the changes include the Volkswagen ID.4, Tesla Model 3 Rear Wheel Drive, BMW X5 xDrive 50e, Audi Q5 PHEV 55, Cadillac Lyriq and Ford E-Transit, losing eligibility for the credit, according to Reuters.

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Biden-Favored EV Bus Maker Proterra Goes Bust and Leaves a Trail of Broken and Irreparable Buses

Across the country, towns and cities of various sizes envisioned an electrified public transit system that could shuttle residents with vehicles that produced no carbon-filled exhaust.

Many of those communities purchased buses from Silicon Valley-based Proterra, which was able to produce 550 buses over its 19-year existence before it went bankrupt in August.

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Ted Cruz Bills Aim to Advance School Choice Across the Country Through Tax Credits, 529 Expansion

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, commemorated National School Choice Week by filing two bills to advance school choice, one of which his staff said would be the most significant educational reform since the GI bill. “We need to provide students with a variety of educational options to fit their needs,” Cruz told The Daily Signal in an email statement Tuesday. “I have often said that school choice is the civil rights issue of the 21st century, and I believe no differently today than I did when I began serving in the Senate a decade ago.

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Robin Hood in Reverse: Democrats Plan $12,500 Tax Credits for Pricey Electric Car Purchases

House Republicans are arguing against a Democratic proposal to increase the $7,500 taxpayer-funded credit for electric car purchases to as much as $12,500, arguing that it would disproportionately help wealthy Americans who can afford to buy pricey electric vehicles.

Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee have proposed increasing the credit as part of their party’s filibuster-proof $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill, which includes new social programs and billions for electric vehicle infrastructure.

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Amazon Calls for Higher Taxes on All Corporations Except Itself

Amazon logo on Samsung smartphone screen

While the tech giant Amazon has publicly endorsed proposals to raise the corporate tax rate in the United States, the company has been secretly lobbying to keep its own tax rates low, Politico reports.

Last year, during the 2020 presidential election, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos openly supported then-candidate Joe Biden’s proposals to raise taxes on American corporations. Those proposals have re-emerged in recent weeks as a possible means of funding a possible infrastructure bill, and Biden has been advocating for other countries around the world to adopt higher corporate tax rates as well.

But recently, Amazon has been stepping up its lobbying efforts to try to convince Congress and the White House to allow the company to keep using certain tax breaks in order to keep its own rates low. The retail giant hired a tax lobbyist named Joshua Odintz, who formerly worked as a Democratic aide on Capitol Hill and then as an official in the Obama Administration. In addition to Amazon’s own efforts, similar lobbying has been undertaken by a group known as the “R&D Coalition,” which consists of several companies and organizations including Amazon, Intel, and the National Association of Manufacturers.

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Georgia House Votes to Strip Delta of $35 Million in Tax Incentives

delta

After the CEO of Georgia-based Delta Airlines caved to pressure from left wing activist groups and criticized a bill signed into law requiring voter identification for absentee ballots, Georgia’s House Republicans responded by voting to strip Delta of a major tax credit. 

Delta has long-enjoyed a $35 million tax credit on jet fuel in the Peach State, but Thursday night, that tax credit was jeopardized, as House Republicans voted along party lines to end it, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

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GM’s Mass Layoff Includes Eliminating a Hybrid Car Obama Once Championed

by Chris White   General Motor’s decision to restructure and layoff thousands of employees Monday includes eliminating a hybrid vehicle former President Barack Obama once called the car of the future for the Detroit company. GM said Monday that it will cut roughly 14,000 people in North America and will idle factories…

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