Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Pa. 17th in switch to electric vehicles
Anyone still waiting should claim it on their 2020 tax return.
Pennsylvania ranks 17th among the 50 states and Washington, D.C., in transitioning from gas-fueled vehicles to electric vehicles, according to a study conducted by the American Council for Energy Efficient Economy.
The Washington-based nonprofit, which works to advance energy efficiency policies, rated the states on concerted efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the quality of life by improving access to electric vehicles.
The study, “The State Transportation Electrification Scorecard,” concludes that the most common actions states can take are planning for more vehicle charging stations, offering rebates, tax credits and grants to buy electric cars and buses, and providing utility programs that offer lower costs for electric vehicle users.
California is the leader in transitioning to electric vehicles, followed by New York and D.C., according to the 174-page report.
“Transitioning to electric vehicles is vital for the climate and for reducing costs for households and businesses,” said Bryan Howard, the organization’s state policy director and author of the study.
In Pennsylvania, the state Department of Environmental Protection partnered with PennDOT to form a Drive Electric
Pennsylvania Coalition to increase knowledge about electric vehicles through webinars, flyers and other materials.
The two state agencies are working to develop charging stations every 50 miles on major highways that are within five miles of the highway.
Last week, DEP announced that a $936,619 grant was awarded to fund 16 fast chargers in hightraffic areas.
“Our transportation decisions affect Pennsylvania today and tomorrow,” DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said in a press release. “We can turn in the direction of healthier air quality and slow down climate change by switching to electric vehicles, whether we’re government officials, business owners, school administrators, community leaders or individual consumers.”
McDonnell said DEP is committed to increasing public knowledge of electric vehicles, making it easier for consumers to find electric models and helping to expand charging infrastructure.
The funding for the chargers comes from the state’s share of a national settlement with Volkswagen Group of America for cheating on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emissions tests.
DEP awarded $750,000 to EVgo Services in Los Angeles for these projects:
• A fast-charging station in Philadelphia within a half-mile of Interstate 76 and 3 miles off Interstate
95.
• A fast-charging station in Ridley Township, Delaware County.
• A fast-charging station in Moon Township, Allegheny County.
DEP also awarded $186,619 to EVBuild Inc., Shawnee, Kan., for a project to install fast-charging stations along Route 309 in Quakertown, Bucks County.
In January 2019, Gov. Tom Wolf signed an executive order calling for an increase in the use of electrical vehicles to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Pennsylvania is among 15 states and D.C. to commit to having 30% of the vehicles on the road electric powered by 2030 and 100% by 2050.
In 2019, the most recent year available, Pennsylvania had 10,875 registered electric vehicles. The 30% goal would involve 3.2 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030, assuming the total number of vehicles in the state doesn’t increase.
In 2018, there were 143 electric vehicles in Berks, rising to 219 in 2019, according to the state.
Pennsylvania has identified highways that are designated as electric vehicle corridors, including Interstates 78, 76, 276 and 476.
Berks County transportation planner Alan D. Piper said PennDOT is working to identifying locations for electric chargers along I-78, but a location has not been selected.
Plans are in the works for a Tesla charger at the Wawa on Route 61 and Lowland Road in Tilden Township.
“We support the environmental benefits that result from the use of these vehicles but recognize their impacts to our revenue stream and the need to have a method developed to have all road users pay their fair share,” Piper said.
Most of the electric car owners have a charging station in their garages. A charge will last for 100 to 300 miles.
Berks car dealers are starting to sell electric vehicles.
The 2021 Bolt EV is in the showroom at Outten Chevrolet of Hamburg.
Gary Diltz, new car sales manager, said the transition to electric vehicles is a slow process.
“I have one in the showroom,” Diltz said. “The problem is that there are not enough charging stations. People have power anxiety about electric cars. We have rebates for electric cars. I don’t think Berks County is ready for electric cars.”
WASHINGTON » A week into the tax season, the IRS says all COVID-related stimulus payments have been issued.
If you are entitled to stimulus funds and haven’t received them, chances are good that the IRS doesn’t know you are entitled to the relief. The only way to get your money now is to file a 2020 tax return.
More than 160 million stimulus payments totaling over $270 billion went out to taxpayers last spring under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (Cares) Act. In the second round of payments under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, which passed at the end of December, the IRS said it delivered more than 147 million relief payments totaling over $142 billion.
The IRS had until Dec. 31 to finish distribution of the firstround payments, and Jan. 15 for the second. The “Get My Payment” tool was last updated on Jan. 29 to reflect the final payments and won’t update again, the IRS said.
At a time when IRS staff had to socially distance and plow through piles of backlogged mail, the distribution of so much money was a triumph for the underfunded agency.
But there were a lot of missteps and glitches under the Trump administration that have millions of Americans wondering why they didn’t get their stimulus payments.
Some of those still awaiting COVID relief don’t typically file returns and aren’t on the IRS radar. They now have to submit a 2020 tax return to claim the funds.
Others won’t receive relief payments or will only get part of what they are due because the IRS will now offset the money to cover past-due tax debt or other federal or state liabilities. Still others had to take the IRS and Treasury to court to get their payments.
It’s understandable that the IRS wants to take credit for getting two sets of stimulus payments out in a short amount of time — a matter of days, in the case of the second round.
Nonetheless, the IRS announcement that all payments had been issued didn’t sit well with the current National Taxpayer Advocate or her predecessor. The independent Taxpayer Advocate Service is an organization within the IRS that helps taxpayers resolve issues with the agency.
The people left out include individuals experiencing domestic violence and taxpayers who received only partial payments. The difficulty for the IRS lies in identifying those eligible individuals who are not in the IRS system, said the current National Taxpayer Advocate, Erin M. Collins.
“The IRS used its outreach programs to get the message out, specifically focused on underserved communities,” Collins said. “However, we are all concerned that some individuals that have the greatest need are not reading the newspaper, reading the IRS website, or are not familiar with the benefits that Congress has provided.”
Although people can claim the stimulus money when they file their 2020 return, the IRS faces a daunting task in the midst of a pandemic to reach people who don’t typically file. Technically, the stimulus payments were an advance of a credit referred to on Forms 1040 and 1040-SR as the “Recovery Rebate Credit” — on the second page, Line 30.
Collins said she’s advocating for the IRS to use its authority to avoid offsetting taxpayers’ COVID relief checks if they owe back taxes or other liabilities.
Nina E. Olson, executive director for the Center for Taxpayer Rights, said she was initially flabbergasted that the IRS was so self-congratulatory about its job in getting out stimulus payments. It’s not much comfort for millions of taxpayers whose 2019 returns were not processed and who had hoped to get stimulus relief without having to file a 2020 return, she said.
“The frustrating thing is, no one is saying the IRS hasn’t done an incredible job with the economic impact payment,” Olson said. “But there are people who were left out, and what the IRS has been doing with its publicity is just hitting on the good news. There are taxpayers who are sitting there checking the IRS website every week because they haven’t gotten a payment. Not seeing themselves reflected in the IRS announcement is really demoralizing.”
Olson said the IRS needs to be much more transparent with its data and release information not just on how many stimulus payments have been issued, but on how many returns are still caught up in processing, and how much COVID funds remain to be paid.
People incarcerated in local, state, and federal prisons are entitled to the same stimulus payments sent to millions of other Americans. The IRS issued close to 85,000 payments to incarcerated people totaling $100 million, according to a June report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
But then the IRS announced that incarcerated individuals were not eligible for stimulus payments. The agency asked correctional facilities to intercept payments and released information on irs.gov telling prisoners and their spouses that if they got a payment, they needed to return the money. A class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of the prisoners, arguing that the decision to deny the payments was arbitrary and unlawful.
Last year, in a stunning rebuke, a federal judge hammered the Trump administration for moving to snatch back the stimulus payments. Following the reversal, the effort to help the incarcerated file 2020 returns and get their stimulus relief will be daunting, Olson said.
“When you consider how many people are sitting in state and local jails not because they have been convicted but just because they can’t afford bail, and then you add on to that the racial disparity in the incarcerated population, well, it just raises significant equity issues, she said.
In other words, the IRS might not want to take that victory lap just yet.
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