Reply #134: $38,000 Federal Tax Deduction. "It's not just a Hummer, it's a tax break" [View All]

:grr:


It's not just a Hummer, it's a tax break
If you use the big SUV for business, you could deduct nearly $38,000

By BRAD WONG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

BELLEVUE -- Standing next to his shiny Hummer H2, John Brightbill recounted a perk that a fellow owner noted about driving this immense sport utility vehicle.

"He said some young women wanted to drive around the block with him," said Brightbill, a real estate broker. "That hasn't happened to me yet."
Real estate broker John Brightbill stands beside his Hummer H2. He is considering the tax write-off -- "I've been using it partially for business."

But some people have a more practical reason for laying down $50,000 to $60,000 to buy an H2: a federal tax deduction of nearly $38,000.

"The government is sort of subsidizing people for buying these land yachts," said Henry Pierman, a certified public accountant with Hauser & Associates in Bellevue. "It's one of those odd things that happen. I would say maybe half of the CPAs are aware of this loophole."

In the mid-1980s, he said, Congress tightened rules about how much money can be written off on luxury automobiles used for business -- but excluded vehicles with a gross weight of 6,000 pounds or more, partly an attempt to help farmers afford tractors, large trucks and other heavy equipment.<snip>

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/104601_hummer17.shtml