Tax Incentives

With gas prices continuing a steady upward climb, you may be headed to the dealer in search of something less thirsty at the pump. But which cars' sticker price gives you the most bang for your buck? We asked Edmunds.com to look at the vehicles with the lowest sticker price per fuel-economy rating. The math was simple: divide the car's base price by its EPA rating for combined fuel economy. The result gives a look at how much each mile per gallon will cost you. Photos: Top 10 cars with lowest cost per mpg Topping the list is Ford's C-Max Energi.

New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez says she now backs a program to expand the state's film tax credit. Martinez recently vetoed a bill that would increase the state's film credit to 30% for TV series shooting at least six episodes in New Mexico, saying she questioned the logic of an "unlimited subsidy to a single industry. " But Martinez changed her tune over the weekend. At a news conference on Saturday in Santa Fe, she said she would, in fact, support the improved incentive as part of a large package of tax reforms approved by state lawmakers, including a proposed reduction in corporate tax rates.

Executives from the U.S. hydropower, geothermal and biomass power industries called Wednesday for the passage of a congressional bill that would extend production tax credits to all renewable-energy projects. The leaders were referring to H.R. 3307, the American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act of 2011. The bill has been offered by Reps. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and has drawn bipartisan support from more than 60 co-sponsors. Failure to pass the bill, the executives said, would put thousands of jobs across the country at risk, stall active energy projects and make it very likely that few new projects would get the funding necessary to begin.

Arizona's deserts, forests and mountains have long made the state an ideal location for westerns, including John Wayne's 1959 movie "Rio Bravo," Clint Eastwood's "The Outlaw Josey Wales" and the 1957 Glenn Ford drama "3:10 to Yuma. " But one notable western that was intended to shoot in the state, Disney's upcoming movie "The Lone Ranger," filmed mainly in neighboring New Mexico, with only a few scenes shot in Arizona. The reason: Arizona is among only about a dozen states nationwide that don't offer a film tax credit, making it tougher to attract film crews as other states such as Louisiana, Georgia and North Carolina grab a large share of the Hollywood pie. PHOTOS: Hollywood back lot moments Now lawmakers in Arizona are debating whether to revive a film incentive that expired in 2010.

The State of California must get on the ball and create manufacturing opportunities. The states of Kentucky and Tennessee do this by allowing new manufacturing equipment to be purchased sales tax free. In Southern California that tax relief would amount to almost $80,000 for every million-dollar investment. Business needs a good reason to keep jobs in California; this could be one. In this state our citizens do one thing very well. We buy cars. Therefore, why don't we keep and promote automobile manufacturing and development here?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday that California must boost tax incentives to movie and TV studios to help keep productions from moving out of state. He said incentive offerings by other states were luring studios away and costing California tens of thousands of jobs. Spokesmen for the Legislature expressed support for the idea but worried about the effect of lost taxes when California is struggling with a budget deficit the governor said could reach $20 billion next year.

Disappointed that a long-awaited revitalization plan for Pacoima and several inner-city communities won't kick in until 2000, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon said Monday he plans to lobby Vice President Al Gore in person next week to start the program sooner. "I will definitely mention to him that I'm disappointed that they can't expedite this program," said Alarcon, who represents the working-class, mostly Latino community of Pacoima.

More than half of all the independent film companies in America are located in the San Fernando Valley, but that number is gradually declining, along with suppliers and artisans. Twelve months have now passed since Bill Clinton was voted into the White House, in great part due to the efforts of members of the film industry who hoped that he would remember that the film business needs his help in order to survive. It is now time for film people to band together and write to Mr. Clinton and members of Congress to instruct them to enact tax incentives that will benefit investors in American-made, American-crewed and American-cast motion pictures.

Oxnard officials believe that their city qualifies for a state Department of Commerce program that provides tax incentives for businesses in an economically depressed area. In a memo to City Manager Vernon G. Hazen, Economic Development Officer Linda Guillis said that "based on preliminary information from the state, Oxnard meets the major eligibility criteria for the establishment of a zone."

Re "Three Things We Need on Taxes: Simplify, Simplify, Simplify," by Maya MacGuineas, Opinion, Feb. 11: How confused can we get? It seems to me there is a peculiar smell of the failed supply-side economic theory of the Reagan administration. How does one reconcile powerful incentives to save with the lesser ability to consume, i.e., to stimulate the dangerous slowing of the economy, under MacGuineas' proposed progressive consumption tax? In addition: If a person saves too much too soon he or she may find that, at retirement, income may be the same or even more with fewer tax deductions, and therefore the person will be in a higher bracket.

Gov. Jerry Brown ought to cut his Texas brother, Rick Perry, a little slack. Texas Gov. Perry arrived in the Golden State this week trolling for California businesses he could poach and carry home with him in his saddlebags. His trip here comes on the heels of a Texas radio come-on, which aired statewide, and which Brown memorably dismissed as "barely a fart. " But there are reasons why Perry's efforts deserve more serious scrutiny. One is that the campaign exposes an important shortcoming of Texas' job-development program: It focuses on using incentives to steal jobs from other states because it's not so hot at creating jobs from scratch.

When President Obama signed the "fiscal cliff" legislation, the middle class wasn't the only group saved from tax hikes. The new law, which rescinded the automatic tax increases and spending cuts that would have gone into effect beginning Jan. 1, includes 52 "extenders," legislative extensions of expired or soon-to-expire laws. And many of the extenders benefit interest groups and specific corporations. The total cost of this package of special giveaways is roughly $64 billion - about $325 for each of the 197 million individual taxpayers in the country.

SACRAMENTO - You might think a tax law that rewards companies for killing California jobs and resurrecting them in another state would be dumped. Very quickly. Especially if it also rewards them for selling off property here and rebuilding elsewhere. Or, put another way, if the law provides a tax incentive not to hire or invest in California in the first place. You'd repeal it. A no-brainer. Makes no sense, except for the companies using the loophole while profiting from selling their products here in the nation's largest consumer market.

Executives from the U.S. hydropower, geothermal and biomass power industries called Wednesday for the passage of a congressional bill that would extend production tax credits to all renewable-energy projects. The leaders were referring to H.R. 3307, the American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act of 2011. The bill has been offered by Reps. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and has drawn bipartisan support from more than 60 co-sponsors. Failure to pass the bill, the executives said, would put thousands of jobs across the country at risk, stall active energy projects and make it very likely that few new projects would get the funding necessary to begin.

President Obama preached a message of hope to factory workers on Wednesday as he began a sales pitch for his plan to boost U.S. manufacturing through changes to the tax code. Speaking to employees and owners of a conveyor belt plant in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Obama talked about the rising cost of doing business in China and predicted that more American companies will see the wisdom of setting up shop at home. "Wages are going up," Obama said of the Chinese economy, and it "starts becoming cost-prohibitive" to operate there.

As Mitt Romney defends his record running a private equity firm, he frequently points to a fast-growing Indiana steel company, financed in part by Bain Capital, that now employs 6,000 workers. What Romney doesn't mention is that Steel Dynamics also received generous tax breaks and other subsidies provided by the state of Indiana and the residents of DeKalb County, where the company's first mill was built. The story of Bain and Steel Dynamics illustrates how Romney, during his business career, made avid use of public-private partnerships, something that many conservatives consider to be "corporate welfare.

Federal officials will hold workshops in Orange County today and Wednesday to explain to thousands of Santa Ana business owners how they can participate in tax-incentive programs that so far have drawn little interest. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is offering $26 billion in tax incentives, credits and other assistance to businesses in economically depressed neighborhoods in Santa Ana and 47 other cities nationwide.

With its lush mountains, tropical rain forest and sugar-white beaches, Puerto Rico has long prided itself as a "paradise of locations" for filmmaking. But the U.S. territory has never been ranked in the top tier of filming destinations, in part because it had only a small pool of money allocated for its tax-credit program. That could change now that the Caribbean archipelago wants to grab a larger share of Hollywood's production pie. Last week, Puerto Rico Gov. Luis G. Fortuño signed into law a new package of film incentives aimed at making his commonwealth competitive with some of the top production hubs in the U.S. The new law broadens the existing 40% production tax credit to include TV programs and documentaries, and for the first time allows producers to claim a 20% tax credit for hiring nonresidents, including actors' salaries.