Treasury Dept Makes Rule Determination Undermining Premise of EV Tax Credits Within Inflation Reduction Act


Posted originally on the CTH on December 29, 2022 

Treasury Dept Makes Rule Determination Undermining Premise of EV Tax Credits Within Inflation Reduction Act

December 29, 2022 | sundance | 132 Comments

We accept the named legislation “Inflation Reduction Act” (IRA) is a legislative misnomer intended to obfuscate the true construct of the bill.  The IRA was factually the ‘green new deal’ program packaged under the guise of an ‘inflation reduction’ premise.  However, in order to discuss the outcome of the content we have to play the game of pretending around the purpose of the legislation.

Within the IRA there was a $7,500 tax credit for American made Electric Vehicles.  The intent of the legislation was to provide incentives for U.S. consumers to purchase ‘sustainable’ and environmentally friendly electric cars, trucks, SUV’s etc made in America.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) scored the bill with this legislative intent in mind.   However, the Treasury Department is now taking apart the granular details of the legislation in order to qualify foreign made vehicles for the $7,500 credit. The rules interpretation from the Treasury Dept essentially negates the CBO score, and the outcome is going to be much more expensive than initially stated.

Because the $7,500 comes in the form of a tax credit, the IRS (Treasury) is the institution making the determinations for qualification.  Treasury is changing the qualifications to permit basically any EV to qualify, by parsing a difference between a leased vehicle and a purchased vehicle.  Additionally, Treasury is changing the battery sourcing aspect by qualifying essentially any trade agreement as a Free Trade Agreement (FTA), saying the term Free Trade Agreement was undefined in the legislation.

As an outcome & simply cutting to the chase, EV batteries from just about anywhere, inside EV vehicles from basically anywhere, that are purchased as leases from just about any auto manufacturer, will qualify for the $7,500 credit. It’s all a shell game, with the Biden administration determining where the pea is located.

Dec 29 (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury Department said Thursday that electric vehicles leased by consumers starting Jan. 1 can qualify for up to $7,500 in commercial clean vehicle tax credits, a decision that makes those assembled outside North America eligible.

The announcement is a win for South Korea and some automakers that earlier this month sought approval to use the commercial electric vehicle tax credit to boost consumer EV access. Automakers said the credit could be used to reduce leasing prices.

The $430 billion U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) passed in August ended $7,500 consumer tax credits for purchases of electric vehicles assembled outside North America, angering South Korea, the European Union, Japan and others. The new Treasury guidance does not change the definition of what constitutes North American assembly to make more vehicles eligible for EV purchases.

Treasury said it was using “longstanding tax principles” to determine consumer leasing could qualify for the EV tax credit.

The IRA also imposes significant battery minerals and component sourcing restrictions, sets income and price caps for qualifying vehicles and seeks to phase out Chinese battery minerals or components. The commercial credit does not, however, have the sourcing restrictions of the consumer credit.

Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat who chairs the chamber’s energy panel, urged Treasury to pause implementation of both commercial and new consumer EV tax credits and said they had bent “to the desires of the companies looking for loopholes” and would seek new legislation that “prevents this dangerous interpretation from Treasury from moving forward.” (read more)

From the Wall Street Journal, “One of the documents released Thursday pointed out that because the legislation doesn’t define what a free-trade agreement is, the Treasury Department might consider other types of trade agreements to expand the eligibility. The department didn’t provide examples of such agreements, but trade lawyers have suggested that the 2019 bilateral trade agreement with Japan and the World Trade Organization’s government procurement agreement could be candidates.” (link)

I am reminded of the words from Democrat Congressman Alcee Hastings during the construction of the ObamaCare legislation.  WATCH (10 secs):

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Exposing the Real Reasons the RNC Ignores You (Pt. 1) | Harmeet Dhillon | POLITICS | Rubin Report


The Rubin Report Published posted originally on Rumbal on December 26, 2022

Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to candidate for RNC Chair Harmeet Dhillon about why the RNC suffered major losses in the 2022 midterm elections under the failed leadership of RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel; how she would change the political strategy of the Republican National Committee; why Republicans don’t seem to know how to win an election; and the free speech litigation she has done on the behalf of the Daily Wire and Project Veritas.

Exposing This State’s Secret Enemies List (Pt. 2) | Harmeet Dhillon | POLITICS | Rubin Report


The Rubin Report Published originally on Rumble on December 28, 2022

Dave Rubin of “The Rubin Report” talks to candidate for RNC Chair Harmeet Dhillon about how the Twitter files have confirmed the suspicions of the Center for American Liberty’s lawsuit against Twitter; how she exposed the state of California’s secret enemies list; why she is representing Rogan O’Handley (aka DC Draino) in his fight against big tech censorship; how Republicans dropped the ball in dealing with big tech regulation; how section 230 of the communications decency act needs to be reformed; and why we need a social media bill of rights.

Very Interesting Joe Rogan Interview on Cobalt Mineral Mining in Congo with Siddharth Kara


Posted originally on the CTH onDecember 27, 2022 | Sundance 

Cobalt is a mined mineral needed for all rechargeable batteries including phones, pads, laptops and Electric Vehicles (EV’s). According to Siddharth Kara, an author and expert on modern-day slavery, human trafficking and child labor, approximately 72% of all the cobalt mined globally comes from the Congo.

Within his new book “Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives,” Kara outlines how slave labor and child labor work these cobalt mines. Kara appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast {Direct Rumble Link to segment} to discuss his research and findings after visiting these Congolese mines.  Contrasting the “Green Movement” claims that their efforts are to “save the planet” by switching everyone to EV’s, the issues Kara outlines are remarkable.  WATCH:

The Disturbing Reality of Cobalt Mining for Rechargeable Batteries