2015年经济学人 税收鼓励 火花飞舞

Tax incentives²

Sparks fly

Georgia's breaks for electric vehicles may be too good to last

OLIVIA PEDERSEN thought the Nissan Leaf parked outside her favourite lunch spot near Emory University, must be hers.

But she could not open the door. Nor could she open the door of the identical Leaf behind it. Cautiously, she tried the third Leaf in line and happily drove away.

More than 14,000 electric vehicles are now registered in Georgia; California is the only state with more.

But the juicy state incentives for buying them are coming under attack.

Residents can claim an income-tax credit for 20% of the cost of leasing or purchasing an electric vehicle, up to $5,000.

Combined with a possible federal tax incentive¹ worth $7,500, savvy³ Georgians are driving all the way to the bank in nearly-free electric cars.

Nissan sells more of its Leaf models in Atlanta than in any other city, according to Don Francis from Clean Cities-Georgia, which promotes the use of cars like these.

Such trends motivated Chuck Martin, a representative in Georgia's House, to sponsor a bill to end state incentives for electric vehicles.

He argues that the income-tax credit costs too much—about $13.6m in 2013—and that only urban types benefit from these sorts of cars.

Mr Martin's bill was voted down in committee in February, but seems to be still breathing.

Another House bill, mostly to finance transport projects, would reduce the credits; it is now before the Senate.

Fans of electric vehicles say Georgia now leads the country in clean transport.

Local power companies have helped by offering off-peak prices of 1.3 cents per kilowatt⁴ hour for charging the cars at night.

And the sales tax levied⁵ on this power stays in the state, whereas cash spent on petrol largely goes elsewhere,

says Jeff Cohen, founder⁶ of the Atlanta Electric Vehicle Development Coalition⁷.

Cutting the credits altogether might also harm Georgia in other ways. A study by Keybridge Public Policy Economics,

a consultancy, says the state could lose $252m by 2030 if they disappear and people buy gas-guzzlers instead.

That is because drivers will spend $714m on petrol to get around (in contrast with the $261m they would have paid in electricity bills),

and will no longer fritter away their savings⁸ from the federal electric-vehicle tax credit in Georgia's shops.

But the state's incentives may be safe in the legislature after all; the president of the Senate drives an electric car himself.

1 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

2 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

4 kilowatt   

n.千瓦

参考例句：

• They pay thirty fen per kilowatt hour.他们每度电付三角钱。
• The watt is a small unit of power so that we use the kilowatt instead.瓦特是小功率的单位，因此我们用千瓦代之。

5 levied   

征（兵）( levy的过去式和过去分词 )； 索取； 发动（战争）； 征税

参考例句：

• Taxes should be levied more on the rich than on the poor. 向富人征收的税应该比穷人的多。
• Heavy fines were levied on motoring offenders. 违规驾车者会遭到重罚。

6 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。