SUV tax break a marketing bonanza:
When Congress this year decided to allow small-business owners, doctors, lawyers and real estate salespeople to deduct up to $100,000 from their taxable income for the purchase of a luxury SUV [ed. note - it's not luxury SUV's, it's vehicles that weigh over 6,000 lbs.], Texas car-dealership magnate Jerry Reynolds could hardly believe his good fortune.One of the best reasons for a flat tax is to cut out all the fooling around that goes on with the oddball exemptions and deductions. But since every politico loves to tinker with the tax code, I don't think the accountants and financial planners will have to worry about curtailed prospects any time soon. In the meantime - vroom!
He took to the radio to spread the news, drafted a treatise for the Internet, and last week, the man known around Dallas simply as “the car guy” began advertising in the Dallas Morning News. “It’s a loophole,” the ad proclaims, “and this weekend, we can show you how to make that loophole big enough to drive a fleet of trucks and sport utility vehicles through it!”
The “SUV loophole” once seemed to be just a quirk in the tax code — deplored by environmental activists but ignored by most everyone else. Now it is shaping up to be a marketing bonanza for financial planners, accountants and auto dealers eager to snap up commissions and drive up sales of heavy vehicles, ranging from workhorse Ford F-250 pickup trucks to elite Hummer H2s, BMW X5s and Mercedes-Benz ML55s.
“It’s really been an eye-opener for people,” Reynolds said. “And it’s been fun, I’ve got to tell you.”
