It’s Fix the Tax Code Friday! This week, I’ve been researching federal energy tax credits for an Earth Day post that I’m writing (yes, I’m aware that Earth Day is long gone – wait for the post, you’ll get it). I’ve been intrigued to see the reactions on both sides of the aisle about tax credits for energy-efficient appliances and housing amenities.
Proponents of energy credits say that taxpayers need more incentives to go green. Opponents of energy credits claim that they’re being penalized for not “buying in” to the idea of global warming and other “green” issues.
What do you think? Should saving the planet be its own reward? Or should there be tax incentives to encourage the behavior?
Today’s Fix the Tax Code Friday question is:
Should the federal government allow energy tax credits or should environmentalism be tax neutral?
I am in favor of any tax credit….I don’t know why anyone would be against it. If you buy more energy efficient appliances, windows, insulation it should save you money on your electric/gas bill. If you get a tax credit on top of it just more money in your pocket; who doesn’t want more money in their pocket???
Tax credits are nice, but should the tax code really be used to get people to do stuff? I thought the whole point of taxation was to get money to pay for the things that the government is supposed to do. Adding a tax credit of this and that only adds complexity and opens the door to lobbyists to influence lawmakers to get their product or business sector into the tax code. It is like marketing on steroids. Adding tax credits only helps the tax code lose its main focus – raise revenue. It starts to treat people unequally under the law.
Social Engineering…it’s needed to motivate businesses to, lets say, not outsource jobs. Or in this case, motivate people and businesses to be more energy efficient, or to motivate people to invest in retirement funds. It’s meant to help the nation as a whole and to help push people in the right direction. And contra to that, where loop holes occur and it moves people to the wrong direction….
Tax credits are good if it comes with a guarantee that it will pay off–and if they do not do what they were intended then they should be revoked as this would give an indication that they were favoring the recipient which would be unfair to other taxpayers who are picking up the slack.