We've all experienced the law of unintended consequences, and it has just struck again in Canada. Years ago a provision was put in US tax law that allowed businesses to deduct $25,000 for the purchase of trucks used for commercial reasons. Unfortunately this meant that many small and medium business owners ended up buying big SUVs for the business that ended being used for personal use.
Earlier this year the Canadian government introduced an array of new taxes and rebates that were intended to promote sales of more efficient vehicles. As usual the politicians left a loophole big enough to drive a pickup truck through. In a move probably targeted at business users, the Canadian rules exempted pickup trucks from the new gas-guzzler taxes. The obvious result was that in a reverse of a several year trend pickup truck sales have jumped by eighteen percent since the new taxes went into effect while SUV sales have dropped by a similar amount. With four door crew cab pickups being widely available now, such trucks pose less of a penalty in utility compared to standard models.
[Source: PickupTruck.com, thanks to Mike for the tip]
Earlier this year the Canadian government introduced an array of new taxes and rebates that were intended to promote sales of more efficient vehicles. As usual the politicians left a loophole big enough to drive a pickup truck through. In a move probably targeted at business users, the Canadian rules exempted pickup trucks from the new gas-guzzler taxes. The obvious result was that in a reverse of a several year trend pickup truck sales have jumped by eighteen percent since the new taxes went into effect while SUV sales have dropped by a similar amount. With four door crew cab pickups being widely available now, such trucks pose less of a penalty in utility compared to standard models.
[Source: PickupTruck.com, thanks to Mike for the tip]
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