They’re going to tax them, too.
You knew this was coming – right?
That they were not going to let you get away with evading paying your “fair share” of motor vehicle fuels taxes by driving a vehicle that uses less (or even no) gas.
Yup.
That Prius you’re maybe looking at because you’re thinking it’ll reduce the number of FRNs you have to shell out for fuel? It’s about to become the object of special taxesdesigned to make up for the ones you’re trying to avoid. Every time you fill up, you pay up – about 50 cents per gallon, on average. If you car has a 15 gallon tank, you pay about $8 bucks in taxes at every fill-up. But if you drive a hybrid car that only has a 12 gallon tank – and only needs to be filled up half as often – you’re paying a lot less. Nothing – if you own an electric car.[amazon asin=1610162552&template=*lrc ad (left)]
And that sets off alarms in certain quarters.
Several states have either proposed or are “looking at” additional “fees” – that is,taxes – to be levied upon the owners of hybrids and electric cars, because the growing number of these vehicles is reducing the revenue flowing into state and county coffers via motor fuels taxes. Something called The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy – one of those shill entities that isn’t technically the government but provides the intellectual ammo (PR, really) for government “estimates” that state and local gas tax revenue has declined by 7 percent since 2004 – even as the number of cars in service (and miles driven) has steadily increased.
And the reason why is simply that cars – and not just hybrid cars – are burning less gas. Which means their owners pay less in taxes.[amazon asin=1590799755&template=*lrc ad (right)]
To correct this atrocity, North Carolina (to cite on example) has proposed adding a $100 annual fee to the mandatory annual registration renewal for electric vehicle owners – $50 for hybrid (gas-electric) owners. News story here. One of the proposal’s backers, State Senator Neal Hunt, says “It just seems logical to me that they should pay a small fee for the use of the highways and the wear and tear they put on the highways.”
Italics added.
Hunt’s “small fee” adds up to real money over time. Keep your EV ten years and you’re out of pocket another $1,000 (a mere $500 for[amazon asin=B00C5K8ELA&template=*lrc ad (left)] hybrid owners). So much for saving money. They’ll get into your wallet one way – or another. At least ten states – at the time this article was written – are considering or have actually passed new laws imposing targeted taxes on the owners of electric and hybrid vehicles. My own state, Virginia, has its hand out for another $64 annually – effectively doubling the cost of annual registration renewal for hybrid and electric vehicle owners. This new tax was supported by Republicans, incidentally.
All this is obnoxious, certainly. But the more worrying thing is that whines for more “revenue” could lead to drive-by-mile taxation – and in-car monitors not just for hybrid and EV owners, but for everyone.
Exactly such a proposal was floated in – where else? – New Jersey. It was defeated after a massive public outcry and replaced by a flat-fee on electric cars.[amazon asin=B001E5FLTA&template=*lrc ad (right)]
But – like the ever-tumescent war boner in DC – this is not going away for good.
Because – irony cue – the very policies so aggressively pursued by the DC Directorate have boomeranged in a way not to their liking.
At least, apparently.
The legislative nudges given to promote EVs and hybrids – everything from million-dollar manufacturer subsidies to individual buyer tax rebates – have done as intended and caused more hybrids and EVs to be made – and bought. On top of this, the ever-upticking fuel economy edicts imposed on the manufacturer of conventional (non-hybrid or EV) cars have likwise resulted in – wait for it, now – the manufacture of more cars that use less gas.
Sum? Less gas is being used in general. Which means, less motor vehicles fuel taxes are being paid.This creates a problem – from the standpoint of government. And government always has a solution.
