Time for a National Review of Gas Taxesby
Laurence
M. Vance
Writing in a recent issue of Time magazine, neocon Andrew Sullivan, a senior editor at The New Republic, thinks that gas prices are too low. He maintains that "gas is woefully undertaxed in this country." His solution: "Add a buck to the tax per gallon." After claiming that a tax on gasoline is good because it cuts the deficit, helps the environment, and keeps the government fiscally honest and accountable, Sullivan tries to justify a hike in the gas tax because of the war in Iraq:
That Andrew Sullivan would advocate a higher gas tax comes as no surprise, but in his response to Mr. Sullivan, Ramesh Ponnuru, writing at National Review Online says that he thinks "Sullivan’s arguments are mostly wrong. But they’re not entirely wrong, and there may be circumstances under which a gas-tax hike would be a good idea." Like Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Ponnuru cites the war in Iraq as the "circumstances" under which an increase in the gas tax would be a good idea. He believes that "a higher gas tax would indeed further the war on terrorism." War makes for strange bedfellows. But are gas prices too low? War or no war, do we need a higher gas tax? As I have pointed out elsewhere, we are already taxed to death. According to the American Petroleum Institute, the average price of a gallon of regular gas is currently about $1.88 per gallon. I doubt that many Americans would say that gas prices were too low. The federal excise tax on gasoline has been 18.4 cents per gallon since 1993. On top of this, each of the fifty states also levies its own gas tax. The tax ranges from a low of 8 cents per gallon in Alaska to a high of 16 cents per gallon in Hawaii. But this is only the beginning, for these figures do not take into account local taxes and "other" taxes placed on gasoline. In the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New York, and Virginia, counties also impose their own taxes on gasoline. The states of California, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and New York have a state sales tax on gasoline. Some of these states even tax the taxes on gasoline. New York, Michigan, and Georgia apply their sales tax to the federal excise tax. California applies its sales tax to both the federal and state excise taxes. Some states levy additional taxes on gasoline under the guise of environmental fees, inspection fees, and the support of various "funds." There is even an additional "seawall tax" of 3 cents per gallon in several counties in Mississippi. Estimates of the total current gasoline taxes (in cents per gallon) by state, including all federal, state, and local taxes, are as follows:
The average price of a gallon of gasoline, exclusive of taxes, is about $1.45. This means that gas taxes as a percentage of the product price amount to about 29.5 percent. Imagine paying a tax of 29.5 percent on everything you purchase. The American public would be outraged. So why are they not outraged about the taxes on gasoline? Contrary to Andrew Sullivan, the gas tax is a hidden tax. Not one American out of a hundred could tell you what the federal gas tax is on a gallon of gasoline. Taxes on diesel fuel, at the federal level, and in most states, are even higher. And since the above data was obtained, Wisconsin increased its state gas tax by .6 cents per gallon. State and federal gas taxes bring in more than $50 billion annually. We are indeed taxed to death, and, thanks to the estate tax, another favorite of Andrew Sullivan, we are taxed at death. For more on the evils of the gas tax, see Murray Rothbard’s classic article, "That Gasoline Tax." May 13, 2004 Laurence M. Vance [send him mail] is a freelance writer and an adjunct instructor in accounting and economics at Pensacola Junior College in Pensacola, FL. Visit his website. Copyright © 2004 LewRockwell.com |
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