A helping hand from Uncle Sam

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

The government has figured that out, so it's offering a multitude of sweet deals to lure consumers into doing what it wants.

Tax credits, rebates and deep discounts are offered by assorted agencies to get Americans to do everything from stimulate the economy and buy houses to use less energy and pursue college educations.

Beyond trading in your clunker for cash, there's money offered for planting trees, scrapping refrigerators, insulating walls, replacing windows, buying hybrid vehicles and more.

The incentives can be combined, so consumers can get rebates from more than one agency for the same thing, such as installing solar panels or replacing old cars.

Here's a sampling of who's offering what:

VEHICLE DEALS

• Cash for Clunkers: Consumers can receive a $3,500 or $4,500 discount when they trade in their old vehicle and purchase or lease a new one by Nov. 1 or until the program runs out of money.

The size of the credit depends on the type of vehicle purchased and the difference in fuel economy between it and the trade-in vehicle.

The new vehicle must have a manufacturer's suggested retail price of not more than $45,000. The new car also must have a combined fuel economy value of at least 22 miles per gallon.

The trade-in must have been manufactured less than 25 years ago, have a combined city-highway fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon or less, be in drivable condition and be continuously insured and registered to the same owner for the past year.

For more details on the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save program, call 866-227-7891 or go online to www.cars.gov.

• Car sales tax: State and local sales and excise taxes paid on the purchase of new vehicles can be deducted from federal income taxes, even if the taxpayer does not itemize deductions.

The deduction is limited to the tax on up to $49,500 of the purchase price. The deduction is phased out for joint filers with modified adjusted gross income of $250,000 to $260,000 and other taxpayers with modified incomes of $125,000 to $135,000.

Get details at www.irs.gov.

• Hybrid vehicles: Tax credits are offered to those who purchase certain new hybrid cars before Dec. 31, 2010. The vehicles must have drive trains powered by an internal combustion engine and a rechargeable battery.

The 2009 vehicles qualified for credits include the Cadillac Escalade Hybrid 2WD, $2,200; Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid C1500 2WD, $2,200; Chrysler Aspen Hybrid, $2,200; Dodge Durango Hybrid, $2,200; Ford Escape Hybrid 2WD, $3,000; GMC Sierra Hybrid C15 2WD, $2,200; Mazda Tribute Hybrid 2WD, $3,000; Mercury Mariner Hybrid 2WD, $3,000; Nissan Altima Hybrid, $2,350; and Saturn Aura Hybrid, $1,550.

Get details at www.irs.gov.

• Plug-in electric vehicles: Two types of federal tax credits are available for various types of electric vehicles, including those commonly referred to as neighborhood electric vehicles.

Low- speed or two- or three-wheel electric vehicles, such as motor scooters, purchased after Feb. 17, 2010 and until Jan. 1, 2012 can get a credit of up to 10 percent of the cost of the vehicle to a maximum $2,500.

For four-wheel vehicles that draw propulsion using a rechargeable traction battery, the rebates ranges from $2,500 to $15,000, depending on the weight of the vehicle and the capacity of the battery.

Get details at www.irs.gov.

• Polluting vehicles: The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District offers $1,000 cash or $5,000 toward a newer, cleaner vehicle when someone retires an old vehicle.