Our
View: SUV write-off only for wealthy
Although
Arnie may not be a small-business person
anymore, he may be a little disappointed
to find out that his Hummers won't be as
big a tax write-off as they could have been.
Originally Section 179 of the May 2003 tax
cut allowed owners of Hummers and other
giant vehicles to write-off up to $100,000
for their small business. Now they will
only be permitted a $25,000 write-off.
This
little $100,000 write-off was another fabulous
part of Bush's $350 billion tax cut from
last May. And boy, we sure are glad he did
that, because it's really been a blessing
these last few months. Come on, now. How
many people own Hummers in the first place,
and only allowing small business people
to write-off the gargantuan vehicle so they
can drive downtown to the office is ridiculous.
This is exactly the kind of thing that Bush's
tax cuts have become known for.
More,
more, more for the rich, as Arnie would
say. Less, less, less for all of us. It's
a good thing someone in the senate's Finance
Committee has enough sense to say that's
enough. Making the tax write-off so narrow
as to only give cuts to business people
buying a vehicle that weighs 6,000 lbs or
more is unfair to other small business people
who believe that the kind of vehicle that
the write-off applies to is hardly practical
in a time when gas has been bobbing around
$2 a gallon.
Not
only is the narrowness of the law unfair,
but the comparison of the write-off for
a vehicle 6,000 lbs or more compared with
a vehicle under 6,000 lbs is ludicrous.
The original $100,000 write-off was in comparison
to a $7,660 write-off for small businesses
that purchased a vehicle smaller than an
elephant. This kind of pandering to automobile
and oil companies is unacceptable in a time
when small businesses are the most likely
to suffer. Even politicians without a conscience
can hardly justify giving tax breaks to
small business people who can afford a $100,000
vehicle.
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