Study: Wealthy Claim Most Energy Credits

Federal government offers up to $7,500 in tax credits to purchase an electric vehicle

By Jeffrey Sparshott of the WSJ. Excerpts:

"The federal government offers up to $7,500 in tax credits to purchase an electric vehicle, part of a broader national policy to encourage efficient use of energy and curb carbon emissions.

Almost all of those benefits are going to the wealthiest U.S. households, according to an analysis by University of California, Berkeley, professors Severin Borenstein and Lucas Davis."

"“We find that the top income quintile has received about 90% of all credits,” they said."

The pattern is similar, though not as extreme, for other clean-energy tax incentives"

"From 2006 to 2012... tax credits totaled $18.1 billion. In that time, taxpayers with an adjusted gross income greater than $75,000 received about 60% of those credit dollars for energy efficiency, residential solar and hybrid vehicles, and about 90% for electric cars."