It turns out this whole "recession" fiasco is a good thing — at least in the U.S.A. Down below the border, a special tax deduction that’s part of the $700-plus-billion grabfest supposed to wake up the economy is actually for people who buy new motorcycles!
The American Motorcyclist Association made the special deduction public knowledge on Valentine’s Day, and three days later it was officially sanctioned when President Obama signed the stimulus package into law. The deduction, which AMA veep Ed Moreland says "many motorcycles and scooters will qualify" for, is still an unknown quantity, as the U.S. Treasury Department has yet to deliver final wording on the bill.
But, he said, Harley-Davidson and the AMA were involved in getting the same tax deduction for motorcycles that was built into the stimulus plan for buyers of cars, light trucks, and RVs. The law also gives a 10 per cent tax credit, up to $2,500, for electric motorcycles that are street legal and bought by the end of 2011.
One form of the deduction — and we’re not sure if there are others — allows buyers to enter the amount paid in sales tax on a new bike onto their income tax forms as paid-up tax.
