Text 2946, 58 rader
Skriven 2010-01-11 14:06:14 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
   Kommentar till text 2934 av Bob Ackley (1:300/3)
Ärende: Gas taxes here and there (was: "Flying is the safest way to fly")
=========================================================================
Bob Ackley wrote to Björn Felten on Sunday January 10 2010 at 04:53:

BF>> Didn't the much more fair and easy way, to put the road tax on the
BF>> fuel, occur to him/her?

BA> That's the way it's done here.

Frankly, I have my doubts that gas taxes on the level of those in the States
could possibly upkeep, much less build the existing road system. My guess is
that this is met with other tax income (sales taxes, income tax) and/or tolls.

BA> The feds and most states tax motor vehicle fuel - heavily.

Bob, in the States you have no idea what _heavy_ taxation of motor fuel even
means. If you did, gas would cost upwards of $7 a gallon, as it does in Europe.

BA> Which is why fuel not intended for motor vehicle use - and thus not
BA> subject to those taxes - contains a dye to identify it.

You're thinking of diesel, which costs something like $6.30 a gallon here.
Naturally taxed.

BA> Some years back gasoline in Iowa was significantly less expensive than
BA> gasoline in Nebraska. The powers that were in Nebraska (and
BA> particularly in Omaha) were incensed that Nebraska residents were
BA> driving across the bridge(s) to buy their gasoline in Iowa, and they
BA> proposed setting up checkpoints to try to catch - and tax - those who
BA> did so (presumably anyone returning to Nebraska with a full tank was
BA> guilty of tax evasion).

;-) The Germans have the same problem with citizens living on a national
border, most particularly the Luxembourg border (where gas costs around 20 Euro
cents ($0.30) per _liter_ ($1.13 a US gallon) less than in Germany. All tax,
naturally. So the filling stations on the German side of the border have all
gone broke, whereas those on the Luxemburg side of the border are in great
shape, with plenty of German customers.

There's no way to prevent the Germans from tanking up in Luxembourg (remember
the EU?), so the Germans play around with ideas like giving Germans living on
the border a tax break to reduce the gas price and encourage them to tank up in
Germany. But nothing has really been implemented to date, and my guess is that
nothing will, as then envy would come to the fore and the pandora's box of "Why
don't _I_ get the same break?" would be opened.

Moral of the story: don't get greedier than your neighbors unless you can build
a wall around your country/state to keep your own citizens in. Unfortunately,
not many countries/states learn this lesson.

Cheers, Bob

P.S. The same kind of thing applies to liquor and cigarettes, and in Germany
even coffee. Germany is one of the few EU countries that still taxes coffee,
and the Dutch (who don't) just _love_ the Germans for that. It keeps the Dutch
border supermarkets and filling stations (with shops of high-tax items) full of
German customers.

--- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-0613
 * Origin: Jabberwocky System - 02363-56073 ISDN/V34 (2:2448/44)