California Hybrid Automobile Watch: Tax Breaks Add Incentive

Mitchell Rose holds the yellow stickers that hybrid owners must use to access carpool lanes. The decals, which are 7 by 3 inches and 5 by 2 inches in size, go on panels behind the rear wheels and on the bumpers.

The ASSociated Press has Hybrid Car Buyers to Receive Tax Breaks

Hybrid cars are a good bet for tax breaks in 2006. The new year will bring more savings for buyers of at least 13 gas-electric vehicles, with those showing the most improvement in fuel efficiency securing bigger tax breaks for their new owners.

The breaks will come in the form of tax credits, and they range from $3,150 for buyers of the Toyota Prius to $250 for Chevrolet’s Silverado pickup truck, according to an analysis by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

The credits give buyers of American hybrids incentives similar to those now enjoyed mostly by Honda and Toyota owners.

Official figures on the hybrid tax credits weren’t available Friday from the Internal Revenue Service.

Still, some car-shoppers already have figured out they would do better to hold off on buying a hybrid until after Jan. 1, when the new credits kick in.

Well, only one day to wait……..about those ugly stickers……….

Technorati Tags: Hybrid Automobiles, California, carpool lanes, Toyota Prius