Did you take part in the Cash 4 Clunkers farce? You did? Do you know that you have to pay taxes on that money? And if you're on the cusp of your tax bracket this could cost you a bunch in additional tax by driving you up into that next bracket. Thanks to the Obama.

[Ratmagiclady]

Did you take part in the Cash 4 Clunkers farce? You did? Do you know that you have to pay taxes on that money? And if you're on the cusp of your tax bracket this could cost you a bunch in additional tax by driving you up into that next bracket. Thanks to the Obama.

Way to look a gift rebate in the mouth.

I suppose if you're in that position you do what people with money always do, look for the deductible expenses and charities to squeak under again.

[larryinlc]

Not totally true. You may have to pay a minimul sales tax depending on the state in which you live. Thank you for your concern though. You're a good American.

CARS.gov - Car Allowance Rebate System - Helpful Q&As for Consumers - Formerly Referred to as “Cash for Clunkers”

"Is the credit subject to being taxed as income to the consumers that participate in the program?
NO. The CARS Act expressly provides that the credit is not income for the consumer."

However, sales tax may be assesed and this is also mentioned in the cars.gov website.

"Do I have to pay State or local sales tax on the amount of the CARS program credit?

MAYBE. The question of whether a consumer must pay State or local sales tax on the amount of the CARS program credit depends on the sales tax law of each State or locality. Consumers should review the law of their respective States or consult a tax advisor to answer this question."

[slomojoe]

Not totally true. You may have to pay a minimul sales tax depending on the state in which you live. Thank you for your concern though. You're a good American.

CARS.gov - Car Allowance Rebate System - Helpful Q&As for Consumers - Formerly Referred to as “Cash for Clunkers”

"Is the credit subject to being taxed as income to the consumers that participate in the program?
NO. The CARS Act expressly provides that the credit is not income for the consumer."

However, sales tax may be assesed and this is also mentioned in the cars.gov website.

"Do I have to pay State or local sales tax on the amount of the CARS program credit?

MAYBE. The question of whether a consumer must pay State or local sales tax on the amount of the CARS program credit depends on the sales tax law of each State or locality. Consumers should review the law of their respective States or consult a tax advisor to answer this question."

That's correct. If you took advantage of C4C, you will not owe any federal income tax on the rebate. However, at the time of purchase your state and local sales taxes may have been calculated based on the full (pre-rebate) value of the vehicle you bought, which is what normally happens with most rebates (think rebate coupons at department stores and such).

I don't know if any States would ask you to include the amount as income on their tax forms next year, but unless they have really weird tax laws, I doubt it. It's definitely not the case in New York, and if it ain't taxed here, believe me, it's highly unlikely that it would be taxed anywhere else.

So, don't worry, if you got yourself a new car with C4C, the Tax Man most likely has cometh and goneth already, and you didn't even notice.

[jimH]

Way to look a gift rebate in the mouth.

I suppose if you're in that position you do what people with money always do, look for the deductible expenses and charities to squeak under again.

I don't know why people think that government money is a gift. It's not government money, it's ours. They take it out of our pockets and give it to other people to buy votes, and they tell us that they are doing us a favor. It's the oldest graft that is going right now.

[larryinlc]

I don't know why people think that government money is a gift. It's not government money, it's ours. They take it out of our pockets and give it to other people to buy votes, and they tell us that they are doing us a favor. It's the oldest graft that is going right now.

True, it is what you say. Still, with the 70-80 billion tax dollars spent annually in foreign aid, I find it a little refreshing that a small 3 billion amount was actually spent in country for the benefit of our citizens.

Larry

[jimH]

True, it is what you say. Still, with the 70-80 billion tax dollars spent annually in foreign aid, I find it a little refreshing that a small 3 billion amount was actually spent in country for the benefit of our citizens.

Larry

Ever heard the term "Robbing Peter to pay Paul"? The money has to come from somewhere. Where do you think it's going to come from? Don't you think it's time to stop the madness?

[Ratmagiclady]

I don't know why people think that government money is a gift. It's not government money, it's ours. They take it out of our pockets and give it to other people to buy votes, and they tell us that they are doing us a favor. It's the oldest graft that is going right now.

Hey, then why get indignant about it getting 'taxed' when, why am I not surprised, the original assertion wasn't even *true?*

OK So I was mistaken. Florida takes the difference between the "rebate" and the sales price and taxes you on that. Some states tax the full amount. Even the CNN website has it wrong. And that's where I got it from. Yeah Yeah so I read CNN. So what? Big deal.

[Ratmagiclady]

Ever heard the term "Robbing Peter to pay Paul"? The money has to come from somewhere. Where do you think it's going to come from? Don't you think it's time to stop the madness?

Madness is... Thinking that the 'free market' is going to solve a problem it created, while demanding tax *breaks* for it and taking taxpayers with it, all while taking our money anyway, and using it to justify selling things which, looky looky, no one turned out to be willing or able to buy when the circumstances they insisted would never happen came about anyway.

I don't know what the economics of the conservative parallel universe are based on, but if big companies had government in their back pockets while giving us nothing *and screwing up even on their own terms,* why now does the worry about spending a buck to try and keep industry from collapsing bother you when real people *actually see real benefits from it?*

What's in it for *you?*

[slomojoe]

Ever heard the term "Robbing Peter to pay Paul"? The money has to come from somewhere. Where do you think it's going to come from? Don't you think it's time to stop the madness?

Strictly speaking, it's not actually coming from our taxes, which aren't enough to even pay for basic government operations (our military, Medicare, roads, FBI, and so on), but mostly from the Chinese, and other foreign and domestic US debt-holders.

We and/or our successors of course will have to pay these creditors back at some point, and the idea, as for most loans, is that by that time we hope to have enough money to do so. Ultimately, the logic is that, as a society, we are more likely to have that money in the future, and hopefully more to spare, if we don't let the US auto industry just go bankrupt this year. Whether that will actually work we won't know for some time.

[Ratmagiclady]

OK So I was mistaken. Florida takes the difference between the "rebate" and the sales price and taxes you on that. Some states tax the full amount. Even the CNN website has it wrong. And that's where I got it from. Yeah Yeah so I read CNN. So what? Big deal.

And, like they say at Ritz, 'Pentax is going out of business, buy this instead.'

Who cares if it's not true, support the oligopoly and blame 'those durn libruls' when the quality of life doesn't go up.

[Ratmagiclady]

Ultimately, the logic is that, as a society, we are more likely to have that money in the future, and hopefully more to spare, if we don't let the US auto industry just go bankrupt this year. Whether that will actually work we won't know for some time.

It's also a good way to cut the energy trade deficit, preserve what jobs are left, and avoid the very-expensive process of dismantling and then rebuilding what's left of our manufacturing infrastructure and all the things and ancillary businesses in the supply chain.

Did you take part in the Cash 4 Clunkers farce? You did? Do you know that you have to pay taxes on that money? And if you're on the cusp of your tax bracket this could cost you a bunch in additional tax by driving you up into that next bracket. Thanks to the Obama.

Did you buy a car or are you a car dealer?
There must be other people you can think of to complain about than the president.
Next you'll be complaining about what he eats for breakfast.

[larryinlc]

Ever heard the term "Robbing Peter to pay Paul"? The money has to come from somewhere. Where do you think it's going to come from? Don't you think it's time to stop the madness?

Jim, I'm not disagreeing with you. I just don't want to see this topic, like many here, turn into another "my politics/your politics" thread. There are many more blatant uses/misuses of federal tax dollars than this program. Again, the annual amount of money given to foreign lands in every corner of this planet is astounding. Maybe not so bad in good times, but these are not the best of times here and seems to me, it's high time we stay home and mind the store a little. I suspect the amount we give to Israel every year could support the C4C program indefinetly. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but it's a lot of money that has been allocated for years. As Damn Brit said...what will we complain about next? What President Obama had for breakfast?

Sure, the jury is still out, but it appears the C4C program has been highly successful. So much so that dealers are stating that not only are they selling cars within this program, but are selling more cars in general. Good advertising gets foot traffic into the showroom, and to that end, it's icing on the cake.

Larry