Should Driving Cost Less or More?

March 2, 2007 9:34 PM |
Several states are grappling with how and whether gasoline should be taxed. In Indiana, House Democrats campaigned on a proposal to eliminate the state's sales tax on gasoline entirely, but this plan was cast aside because it was entirely too expensive to carry out. Instead, the House has passed a rather complicated bill this week that would remove the sales tax from gasoline only when the price rose to $2.25 a gallon or higher. This bill, which is certainly not efficiently targeted to those who might need help the most, is expected to cost the state $45 million a year and perhaps more in later years.

Some environmentalists argue that the total cost of fuel consumption needs to be increased, not lessened, by government policy. But even states that attempt to move in that direction are not necessarily going about it in a rational or efficient manner. Oregon is in the midst of a pilot mileage tax program where cars are equipped with mileage readers and a tax is calculated based on miles driven. Governor Tim Pawlenty in Minnesota has included money to study a similar initiative in his budget. This proposal creates privacy concerns and does not seem particularly helpful from an environmental perspective. It would treat both gas-guzzling SUVs and fuel-efficient hybrids the same, so long as they drove the same number of miles.

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This page contains a single entry by published on March 2, 2007 9:34 PM.

Property Taxes — the Good, the Bad, and the Ironic was the previous entry in this blog.

Congress Begins to Consider Reform of the AMT is the next entry in this blog.

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