Posted on 08/10/2021 10:27:01 AM PDT by rickmichaels
American drivers could soon trade paying taxes on gas at the pump for owing the government annual 'per-mile user fees,' under a new pilot program recently passed by the Senate in Joe Biden's $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal.
The bill passed a Senate vote on Tuesday and will go on to the House of Representatives.
The massive deal puts $125 million toward exploring the possibility of a federal vehicle miles traveled tax (VMT) by funding the launch of federal, state and local VMT pilot programs.
It gives Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg the ability to award grants to local and regional entities 'to carry out pilot projects' of the VMT tax.
Both everyday drivers and commercial freight drivers from all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico would have to be enrolled in the voluntary program, the bill text reads.
The DOT would calculate drivers' payments quarterly.
It also calls on the DOT secretary to carry out a public awareness campaign on per-mile use fees.
A 2019 report from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that a federal VMT tax could reduce damage to US highways and lessen traffic congestion by encouraging trucking companies to 'change what kinds of trucks they used or where or when they drove.'
However, adding it to existing federal and state gas taxes rather than replacing them may lead to higher consumer prices for everyday families.
Buttigieg told CNN in March 'that's not part of the conversation about this infrastructure bill' when asked about a VMT tax by Jake Tapper.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Not secret any more. But of course the media will deliberately and intentionally NOT tell the brain-dead American public.
What a cop out.
It will not replace gas taxes. It will be over and above the current federal gas tax we already pay.
Yep. And taxes on offroad fuel. and much more hidden crap.
Rent on your own house and taxi fare on your own car. We owe Britain an apology for 1776. What was the point?
Where are all the GOP fluffers who insisted we had to keep re-electing Assistant Democrats?
3 of our 4 cars have no GPS.
Cell phones don't count because it would record passenger travel.
How many lay abouts in the cities drive cars? How about we tax each subway ride??
I’m OK with this, electric vehicles should pay their fair share. And this will be done instead of the federal gasoline tax, right? RIGHT???
Deep State has a mad-on for the red bits...
For freedom of movement...
For freedom.
So poor people would have to make a payment every quarter to the government. Sounds like a plan. Except that would require that they have a car new enough to have the special tracker equipment loaded on their vehicle. Cash For Clunkers Reborn!!!
.
The bill is full of poison pills.
The GOP sold us out.
There won't be any trading going on. Gas taxes are imposed by the states, they won't go away. We'll just get both.
Too true.
The other thing nobody is asking is exactly how they are going to collect the data on your daily travel.
The biggest hurdle to a "mileage tax" on any geographic scale is going to be the enormous cost of collecting the revenue. The fuel tax has a number of major flaws that are starting to become obvious over time, but one of the most attractive features of that tax is that the administrative costs associated with it are miniscule. From what I understand, the fuel taxes are only paid to the government by fewer than a dozen major fuel wholesalers in the entire country. For a "mileage tax," on the other hand, I've seen estimates that the cost of collecting the taxes would be something on the order of 20% of the revenue generated by the tax.
They’ll make you have some kind of device to record your travel. Don’t worry, they’ll take care of it.
Well, that goes without saying... and them saying that there is NO WAY IN HELL THAT WOULD HAPPEN pretty much is the tell that when it does happen, it is feature and not a bug.
I am nearly retired, don’t drive much. For those conservatives this hurts, I feel for you. But I will enjoy hearing the cries of Biden voters as they get stung hard.
I was wondering if this isn’t double taxation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.