H.3836 would subject natural gas to the same fuel tax that currently applies to gasoline but exempt it from the Inspection and environmental impact fee charged on petroleum products. The bill would also, for tax assesment purposes, reduce by 30 percent the gross capitalized costs of vehicles fueled by natural gas or propane.
H.3836 creates tax credits as well. A taxpayer can claim a 25 percent credit for the cost of purchasing, constructing, and installing “eligible property that is used for distribution, dispensing, or storing alternative fuel specified in this subsection, at a new or existing fuel distribution or dispensing facility”.
Taxpayer can also claim credits worth 50 percent of the incremental costs or conversion costs of an alternative fuel heavy-duty vehicle, alternative fuel vehicle, or a bi-fuel alternative fuel vehicle.
Users of natural gas should not be punished by the imposition of new tax on the product but nor should they be rewarded with tax credits All energy sources should be able to compete for consumer dollars on a level playing field, and this goal should be achieved by removing existing taxes, tax credits, and regulations, not by imposing new ones.