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Tax incentives
稅收鼓勵
Sparks fly
火花飛舞
Georgia's breaks for electric vehicles may be too good to last
喬治亞州對電動車減稅的做法，猶如曇花一現，怕長久不了
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.
埃默里大學附近停著一輛日產聆風，巧的是正好停在奧利薇亞·裴德森（OLIVIA PEDERSEN）最愛的午餐廳門口，她覺得這輛車屬于自己。然而，她既開不了車門，也無法打開后面一輛聆風同款車的車門。接著，她小心翼翼地試了第三輛聆風，然后滿心歡喜地開走了。如今，在喬治亞州，超過14000輛電動車已注冊登記；加州成為全美注冊電動車數量最多的州。但是，對電動車購買的福利政策即將遇冷。
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 incentive worth $7,500, savvy 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.
民眾表示收入稅中有20%用于租賃或購買電動車，高達5000美元。價值7500美元的聯邦稅收激勵政策或出臺，精明的喬治亞人全程駕駛免費的電動車前往銀行。來自清潔城市——喬治亞（Clean Cities-Georgia）的唐·弗朗西斯表示，在亞特蘭大州，日產汽車售車數位居全美第一；Clean Cities-Georgia致力宣傳這種車的用途。
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.
喬治亞議院的代表查克·馬丁受到了這種潮流影響，并且出資贊助一項法案，內容涉及終結各州對電動車的優惠政策。所得稅的信貸費用高昂（2013年達1360萬美元），而且只有城市的信貸才能從這些車輛中受益。馬丁先生的法案于二月份遭到否決，但似乎還在“茍延殘喘”。另一項議院法案，主要目的是為交通項目融資；如此一來，信貸費用減少。目前，該法案擺在參議院面前。
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 kilowatt hour for charging the cars at night. And the sales tax levied on this power stays in the state, whereas cash spent on petrol largely goes elsewhere, says Jeff Cohen, founder of the Atlanta Electric Vehicle Development Coalition.
電動車迷說道，如今，喬治亞州帶領全州使用環保的交通工具。當地電力公司也積極響應，并提供低電價即1.3美分每瓦，供居民晚上充電。亞特蘭大電動車發展聯合公司創始人杰夫·科恩（ Jeff Cohen）稱，對該電力公司所征收的銷售稅在該州維持不變，相比之下，其他地方大把銀子卻花費在汽油上。
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 savings 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.
對信貸費用的削減有可能在其他方面傷害喬治亞州。咨詢機構鍵橋公共政策經濟學（Keybridge Public Policy Economics）的一項研究表明，到2030年，如果電動車消失，人們便青睞“油老虎”，那么該州將遭受損失25200萬美元。原因是：駕駛者將花費71400萬美元去加油站加油（相較之下，他們只需花費26100萬美元在電動車上）；同時可以從聯邦電動車稅收信貸中積攢儲蓄。然而，該州的優惠政策在立法過程中終究是安全的，參議院議長自己是騎電動車的。譯者：黃柳
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