USA’s e-Bike tax credit moves along, but is halved
16 September, 2021
Mark Sutton
A proposed tax credit against the purchase of an e-Bike in the USA
has made progress in Congress, but those eagerly awaiting a saving of
nearly a third will be left reeling at the news the discount will now be
no more than 15%.
First put before the House of Representatives in February, the
original document pitched a 30% tax incentive on the purchase of new
electric bikes. The idea is, that in a time of climate emergency, that
low emissions vehicles should be made broadly more accessible to all
incomes and in the case of electric bikes there was significant hope
that actually car trips could be replaced too.
The E-BIKE Act, having this summer been presented with a companion
bill, has since been sent to the House Ways and Means committee and we
are now seeing the results of how the text has been reworked.
The halving of the incentive is sadly not the only revision reports Electrek;
there now also exists an income based phase out of the credit
applicable to those earning over $70,000, or $112,500 for heads of
household and $150,000 if the submission is made on behalf of married
couples.
In terms of retail price, the qualifiable limit on a purchase remains
$8,000. Purchased bikes must carry a manufacturer’s vehicle
identification number, which will be used on the e-bike tax credit claim
form to identify the model.
There remains time for further amendments before Presidential sign
off, so the e-Bike tax credit adaptations are not yet set in stone. For a
full view on the changes made you can view the Ways and Means document here.