Most of the excise taxes credited to the HTF are not collected by the Federal government directly from the consumer. They are, instead, paid to the Internal Revenue Service by the producer or importer of the taxable product (except in the cases of the tax on trucks and trailers, which is paid by the retailer, and the heavy vehicle use tax, which is paid by the heavy vehicle owner). As a result, most of the Federal fuel taxes come from a handful of States, those where major oil companies are headquartered, and most tire taxes are paid from Ohio, the home of the U.S. tire industry. Of course, these taxes become part of the price of the product and are ultimately paid by the highway user.That sound on the level to you? You really trust the government to administer any so called “trust fund” honestly when it never has, in any case?
User taxes are deposited in the General Fund of the Treasury and the amounts equivalent to these taxes are then transferred on paper to the HTF. Transfers are made at least monthly on the basis of estimates by the Secretary of the Treasury and later adjusted on the basis of actual tax receipts. Amounts in the HTF in excess of current expenditure requirements are invested in public debt securities. Until October 1, 1998, the securities were interest-bearing and interest from the securities was credited to the fund. Since that time, the HTF balance has been invested in non-interest-bearing securities. …
I expect the fed government and the state governments to fund the roads. I expect the IRS to be involved in collecting taxes. I expect the producers/retailers of fuels to be part of the collection taxes.
Nothing in that seems out of line. I like the idea of taxes are related to the use of the service they provide. I would rather not it be funded by income tax or something else.