Feb

Taxes by the Mile…Gas Tax isn’t Enough?

I read about the mile tax last week when a friend of mine clued me in to what’s going on in conress in regards to taxes on gasoline. Today I saw it again when I was perusing the financial blog All Financial Matters.

JLP is hates the idea of taxing American’s by the mile, I’m right there with him. Living in a state where things are very spread out means I have to travel many miles to get to the things I need. This idea would hit me pretty hard and I don’t think it’s fair that I should have to bear more of the cost then those who drive less.

By JLP| February 26, 2009

There’s a new commission report (study) out about Americans and their driving. From the Wall Street Journal:

The government should make it a lot more expensive for Americans to drive and should install devices in cars that levy a fee for every mile traveled, according to a report being released Thursday by a congressionally chartered commission.

Among the proposals: raising the 18.4 cents-a-gallon federal gasoline tax by 10 cents, or 54%, and then indexing future increases to inflation. The study estimates that would cost American households about $9 more a month. The plan also calls for adding 15 cents a gallon to the 24.4 cents-a-gallon tax on diesel fuel.

Longer term, the study calls for shifting away by 2020 from a fuel-tax system to a technology-enabled system that levies taxes based on how many miles people drive.

I don’t know about you guys but last idea just gives me the creeps—a little too big-brotherish in my opinion. I like the per gallon gas tax better. At least with the per gallon tax, you can control it somewhat by buying a more fuel-efficient car. A miles driven tax would ruin that. Plus, I think it penalizes people who live in the country or parts of the country where driving is a necessity. I would be interested to know how much driving the people on the commission do.

I think if they want to do something like this then they should also tax taxi customers per mile and people who ride buses and subways. I mean let’s REALLY make it “fair.”

What do you think? Is this fair?