Price tag for tax break expansion could top $7M

Louisiana paid as much as $7 million for a two-month expansion of a tax credit designed to encourage the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles.

The Department of Revenue issued a little-noticed rule in April governing the state's alternative fuel tax credit, which enlarged the list of qualifying vehicles.

Jindal scrapped the rule in June amid complaints it could wreck the state's budget, but it appears hundreds of people took advantage of the expanded list while it was on the books.

More than 2,500 claims for the alternative fuel tax credit — totaling $7.4 million — were paid when the rule was in effect, according to the revenue department.

Revenue spokesman Byron Henderson says the department doesn't know how many credits involved car and truck models from the expanded list.