Text 2995, 103 rader
Skriven 2010-01-11 14:24:33 av Roy Witt (1:387/22)
   Kommentar till text 2946 av Robert Bashe (2:2448/44)
Ärende: Gas taxes here and there (was: "Flying is the safest way to fly")
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11 Jan 10 14:06, Robert Bashe wrote to Bob Ackley:

 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.

 RB> Frankly, I have my doubts that gas taxes on the level of those in the
 RB> States could possibly upkeep, much less build the existing road
 RB> system.

If you're talking about interstate roads, there isn't that much to crow
about. Interstates are a joint venture between the states and the feds.
Once they're built they're maintained by the states thru which they pass.
The federal fuel tax combined with the state fuel tax and sales tax on
fuel is used to maintain those roads.

 RB> My guess is that this is met with other tax income (sales taxes,
 RB> income tax) and/or tolls.

Income tax pays for government, not roads.

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

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

In the States, we call $7/gal government 'gouging' - not heavy taxation.

 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.

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

That type of diesel is NOT taxed here. It's for farm vehicle use, as in
crop-fields. It sometimes does make it to the roads as when a farm tractor
is using the road to go from one field to another.

 BA>> Some years back gasoline in Iowa was significantly less expensive
 BA>> than 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
 BA>> who did so (presumably anyone returning to Nebraska with a full tank
 BA>> was guilty of tax evasion).

 RB> ;-) The Germans have the same problem with citizens living on a
 RB> national border, most particularly the Luxembourg border (where gas
 RB> costs around 20 Euro cents ($0.30) per _liter_ ($1.13 a US gallon)
 RB> less than in Germany.

So it'd pay to live in Luxembourg,  where I can drive my US made 26mpg
'gas guzzler'. :o)

 RB> All tax, naturally. So the filling stations on the German side of the
 RB> border have all gone broke, whereas those on the Luxemburg side of
 RB> the border are in great shape, with plenty of German customers.

Hmmmm, an incentive exists for the price of fuel along the German border
in Luxembourg to increase in price, perhaps to only half of what it costs
in Germany.

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

I did that in California with vehicle registration. Some places in
California are exempt from the annual smog checks and that's where I
registered all of my vehicles. I didn't have to have my vehicles checked
at any time during the 8 years I did that.

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

The price of freedom.

 RB> Cheers, Bob

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

You can do that here too. If you live close enough to the Mexican border,
you're allowed $100 duty free on any and all of that. Or if you live close
to an indian reservation, you can buy products produced by indians that
aren't taxed, ever. Just don't buy any indian trinkets, as they're made in
China these days. BTW, Mexico imports a lot of junk from France and
women's clothes, perfume, etc. are very cheap in Mexico.

                R\%/itt

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