I like things simple. Maybe that’s why I like old cars, old machinery, but I also love things that simplify. So, I adopt new ideas and new technology where the promise of simplification is evident. I hate things that complicate my life. So I have a love – hate relationship with my cell phone and other technological gadgets. And I really despise it when someone seems to make things more complicated than it really needs to be.
One of the latest ideas from Washington, tax you by the miles you drive, some politicians have said “it’s only fair”. That’s how you make an argument sound, make a case for its fairness. But, I am taxed by the mile I drive. I drive a fuel efficient car my tax per mile is likely less than yours but every gallon of gas gets me only so far. I also put lots of miles on my car per year. I replace my tires more often than most, when I buy those tires I pay a federal tax in addition to sales tax. I am taxed by the mile then. When I visit my folks I use toll roads to get there. Again, I am taxed by the mile.
“Ha!” you say “how about those electric vehicles that pay zero fuel tax?” Keep in mind the government had to incentivize us through tax credits to buy them in the first place. (Little shortsighted, but that is a subject for another blog.) My grandfather and others drove pickups that burned propane for years, claiming it was cheaper to run, partly because of the taxes avoided. It did not take the government long to learn how to tax it with a simple decal he had to buy.
I bet this new tax would not replace any existing fuel or road use tax. It would require an addition of government employees, forms, and of course exemptions to administer. Keep it simple, if you want to tax alternate fuel vehicles for their road use so be it, and if you need to raise my taxes fine, but let us not build another bureaucracy to track our mileage because it sounds fair.
Think I will buy that bicycle I have been eyeing, no fuel taxes, no insurance, no tags, no excise tax on the tires, and I’ll be fitter, so no obese health tax. It’s simple and cheap. I might even qualify for tax credit because of my reduced carbon footprint.
If enough join me somebody will suggest toll booths at the end of our driveways, “It’s only fair.”
David
