Proposed Vehicle Miles Traveled Tax

[heckler56]

Well it is all about to get interesting. VMT (vehicle miles traveled) tax is being vetted by the powers that be in Washington. So those of us in rural areas could get dinged just for driving longer distances to buy essentials. I know in my neck of the woods the people that were unfortunately furloughed because of the pandemic cannot afford housing in the urban area so they tend to live further distances out from the urban part of our area, we might as well keep kicking them around.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...e-tax-to-help-fund-infrastructure-gains-steam

 

[dcsnomo]

Meanwhile, here in California, 8% of the vehicles travel on free roads, they are electric and don't pay gas tax.

 

[indy_500]

Is this a joke

 

[rv245]

Here's even a better one.

What happens if you use your vehicle as part of your job, do you get taxed while working to make a wage.

 

[goofy600]

Here's even a better one.

What happens if you use your vehicle as part of your job, do you get taxed while working to make a wage.

No that would or should be a write off, just like it is now when you write off the gas you buy to go from job to job.

 

[heckler56]

Is this a joke

No joke. This idea has been floating in congress for 10 years only gaining considerable traction now.

 

[Skylar]

Well it is all about to get interesting. VMT (vehicle miles traveled) tax is being vetted by the powers that be in Washington. So those of us in rural areas could get dinged just for driving longer distances to buy essentials. I know in my neck of the woods the people that were unfortunately furloughed because of the pandemic cannot afford housing in the urban area so they tend to live further distances out from the urban part of our area, we might as well keep kicking them around.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...e-tax-to-help-fund-infrastructure-gains-steam

Just another way for our elected officials to screw over the middle class.

 

[dfattack]

A transfer of wealth from the "suburban / rural" citizen to the urban citizen. Tax paid to the gubmint then given away as free this and free that for inner city

 

[indy_500]

No joke. This idea has been floating in congress for 10 years only gaining considerable traction now.

The odometer doesn’t even work on my beater car that I drive to work. It’s been stuck at 116,000 miles, guess I’ll be driving that everywhere I go LOL

 

[meathead]

A transfer of wealth from the "suburban / rural" citizen to the urban citizen. Tax paid to the gubmint then given away as free this and free that for inner city

Agree 100% Could not have said it better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[favoritos]

It certainly isn't a fun subject. Truckers have been dealing with this for years. The process has evolved a lot. It used to be an estimated tax when crossing state lines.
Gas taxes sorta made sense. You paid for what you used. Tollways were similar in design.
I expect to see more vehicle tracking to implement upgrades to VMT. I'm not a big fan of that approach.
Roads and bridges are not cheap. They won't get cheaper to build and maintain. It amazes me when I drive the miles and miles of roads out in the middle of nowhere. I grew up with those roads. We could not build those roads today with our funding structure. (I'm glad they were built when it was possible.)
BTW, The topic is worth a good debate. (Let's keep the discussion open without playing a blame game.) It would be nice to come up with a system that keeps the wheels turning. The evolution of commerce, (more cubes and cardboard), is putting even more trucks on the road. The subject isn't going away.

 

[xcr440]

If they pass this, unless they stick their nose in my car to see the mileage, they will never get an accurate reading from me. With so many people working at home and so many that will stay working from home, I'm sure they are concerned about their revenue coffers running low. Not to mention, EV's don't buy gas, so they have to figure out a way to get that money they gave to buy said EV, back into the revenue streams.

Its quite comical when you think about it. They push for higher MPG's, lower emissions, and EV's to "save", yet they still have to find a way to collect a tax.

The two subjects we are most afraid of are the two most guaranteed: Death and Taxes.

 

[goofy600]

Favoritos I can agree with you could be a good debate, there are a lot of roads and bridges in this country that need help. Per mile tax could be fair in reality because the people that drive should pay for the roads, weather it be by gas or mileage, getting money out of the electric/ hybrid people. Biggest thing I have a problem with is kinda like dfattack said all money going to inner city but now to the poor but big cities continuing to build wider and wider highways and they still neglect the rural areas that truly rack up the big miles. Also now someone that drives 20 miles in rush hour still may use as much fuel as a rural drive on 60 miles or more. What equals fair, I don’t know. Should the person driving the big Suburban pay the same as the Prius or the semi pulling a triple trailer?

 

[latner]

I just don't see how they would be able to keep track of everyone's mileage, way to easy to cheat the system...no way of getting around paying tax on fuel.

 

[heckler56]

I have been spinning solutions in my mind since I first came upon it. The only item that jumps out is to eliminate EV's getting such a dramatic tax break. The tax break started the push that direction and many auto manufactures are committed towards EVs. If we don't shut down the tax benefit it will end up like corn which for its subsidized way into everything with the bonus of possible link to increased diabetes..

One unintentional outcome will likely be people choosing to fly and I thought they wanted to restrict that travel under the green new deal..

I am a big fan of making the playing field even. Maybe like the citizens they serve, congress should stay home and Zoom meetings..

Sorry Indy, it will be a flat fee if you don't give the man your gps, phone or car odometer....

 

[jonesin]

they wont eliminate the gas tax, they will just add another one on top of it
your milliage when you buy and sell a vehicle better match what you paid tax on or they will make you write a check at the dmv for the difference i am guessing

 

[Skylar]

I wonder how much money is stolen from the transportation budget, to fund other pet projects by our elected officials.

 

[rv245]

No that would or should be a write off, just like it is now when you write off the gas you buy to go from job to job.

Not in all cases, I work for USPS and have to us my own vehicle to deliver. I do get paid mileage for the route, but again, will we get taxed for mileage or will they tax the company?

 

[dcsnomo]

I just don't see how they would be able to keep track of everyone's mileage, way to easy to cheat the system...no way of getting around paying tax on fuel.

Assign a standard mpg rating, calculate at the pump. If that number is 25 mpg , you pump 20 gallons, you drove 500 miles.

 

[dcsnomo]

I wonder how much money is stolen from the transportation budget, to fund other pet projects by our elected officials.

Currently the Highway Trust Fund is about $15b a year short of what is spent on roads, requiring a transfer from the general fund.