Talk:Fuel tax

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Was the gasoline tax enacted to build highways or build and maintain?

William K. Tell says in "Taxation of Aircraft Motor Fuel", in the Journal of Air Law, 1931:

.control of highways, it was considered by various legislatures throughout the United States that it was only just that those who used the roads, and thereby received benefits from the improvements, should be required to pay for them. The result of this was the general automobile license tax. But, as the number of people owing automobiles increased, so in direct ratio the demands upon the legislatures increased for more and better roads. The revenue which the states were receiving from the licensing of these automobiles being inadequate to meet the increased costs of highways, it was logical that the legislatures in looking for another source of revenue should turn to the gasoline consumed by these vehicles and tax it. (Tell, 1931, pg. 342)

--DaniëlMeijers 10:42, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Article name

I propose that this article be moved to Fuel tax. It covers more fuels than just petrol/gasoline, like heating oil, diesel and kerosene. -- Yama Wed Jul 21 09:35:41 UTC 2004

The article may also cover non-petroleum based fuels, making the current title even more inaccurate. - Yama 11:24, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Regressive

I removed "however, it will also be more regressive" since this depends on income rather than price elasticity, and that varies from country to country. Fuel duty is one of the less regressive indirect taxes in the UK. --Henrygb 00:43, 14 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Requested move

Gasoline tax → Fuel tax – I propose that this article be moved to Fuel tax. It covers more fuels than just petrol/gasoline, like heating oil, diesel and kerosene. It may even cover non-petroleum based fuels. - Yama 11:25, 12 May 2005 (UTC)

This article has been renamed as the result of a move request. violet/riga (t) 19:28, 18 May 2005 (UTC)

[edit] China

Given that the State Council has responsibility for issues such as taxes, and the Communist Party does not, I've deleted the inaccurate reference. DOR (HK) (talk) 04:28, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Dollar and Cents

There are a lot of entries on this page that have figures listed with $ and cents. It is not made clear anywhere what dollar currencies these are in. For example the Canada section contains details that doesn't make clear if it is in US dollars (as the rest seem to be on the page). I think these should all be clarified. By all means translate figures into US dollars in other country sections as long as they have the native figures listed primarily (as this is after all a global encyclopaedia. Wait, what am I talking about? Everyone knows that every other country is worthless. Let the bastards figure out the currency conversion on their own.) Ben W Bell 11:02, 10 September 2005 (UTC)

Ben, I think you need to grow up!

[edit] Tax rate

Is it better to quote the rates of tax as percentages? It means more to say: fuel duty in the UK is x% rather than just say it's 47.1 pence per litre. I would like to see the figure I heard on BBC news the other week, that 66 pence of every pound you spend on fuel is tax. This means the rate of fuel tax in the UK is around 200% - a much more revealing figure! [[User:Simontrumpet|simon--CorvetteZ51 15:14, 18 February 2006 (UTC)]]

I agree, also, in my many countries, the tax is actually a percentage anyway, so the if you quote in cents or pence or lira or whatever it would change almost daily. Paullb 01:03, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

But UK tax is a fixed amount, not a percentage. Quoting it as a percentage would mean someone would have to change the percentage every time the price of fuel change. Smackfu 04:22, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Eficiency & Alternative Fuels?

More recently, particular post 9/11, fuel taxes have been proposed as a way of decreasing foreign oil consumption not just by encouraging conservation and efficiency due to higher prices, but by redirecting the income to efficiency efforts & alternative fuels. A potential of tens of billions of dollars per year going into hybrid vehicles, ethanol & biodiesel subsidies is not inconsequential and surely warrants a mention in this article.

[edit] UK, VAT on the fuel plus duty, how much?

How much VAT does the UK impose on petrol, is it 17.5 percent, or some other rate? Tax on international jet fuel is zero, by the Chicago 1944 treaty.

--CorvetteZ51 15:14, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

Yes, the UK adds 17.5% VAT to petrol. This is added after the fuel duty, so you pay a tax on a tax. NFH 18:16, 18 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Dead Link

Link number 1 for Canada [1] is dead. Kyle J Moore 02:49, 5 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] More countries

 Please help improve this article or section by expanding it.
Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2007)

It would be interesting to see listings for a larger number of countries here, including those that have a negative tax rate - i.e. a subsidy. -- Beland 01:47, 16 May 2006 (UTC)

I just added a section about Australia - includes a subsidy for you :D --58.104.223.30 13:12, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] To what extent do fuel taxes pay for city streets

What is the percentage breakdowns on the source of funds to pay for the building, repairing, salting, cleaning and policing of city streets? Of county roads? Of state highways?

Some people think that the gasoline taxes cover all of these obligations but I've read that fuel taxes in some states cover approximately a third of the bill, with revenues from sales taxes, income taxes, property taxes, and registration fees covering most of the rest.

I'm sure that the answers vary by state. I would love to find an up-to-date source for the breakdown by state.

See Road Finance Alternatives: An Analysis of Metro-area Road Taxes Authors: Barry Ryan and Thomas F. Stinson Research Project: Transportation Financing Alternatives Published: 2002 dml 00:38, 27 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New Jersey/New York

The article's figure of gas being 20% cheaper in New Jersey than in New York seems very flawed to me. At current prices (approx. US$3 per gallon in June 2007) the difference would then be about US$0.60 per gallon. As a New Jersey resident, I know that gas is about US$0.20 (20 cents) cheaper per gallon in New Jersey than in Pennsylvania, and it seems odd to me that New York's prices would be that much higher. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.94.128.106 (talk) 02:08, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

Sounds believable to me: NY is expensive. However, I agree that such comparison statements should be sourced. I modified the statement it to remove the specific numerical claim (which can vary considerably over time), but this may still be disputed as the figure may not account for the cost for travel between the two states. --Bossi (talk • gallery • contrib) 03:17, 21 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] How is this tax money spent?

"How is this tax money spent? The head of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation stated on 15 Aug. 2007 that only about 60% of our federal gas taxes are used for highway and bridge construction. The remaining 40% goes to other, unrelated uses."

This was added by an anonymous user, and isn't cited at all. After a cursory search for the citation, I haven't found it. I say we delete it unless it's cited.

MKultra 00:47, 22 August 2007 (UTC)

It's from here: "only about 60 percent of the gas tax money that they pay today actually goes into highway and bridge construction. Much of it goes in many, many other areas." The original claim is of dubious value (as road projects are also funded by general revenue) and clarity (many, many ... tunnels?). The word "unrelated" is an invention of the anonymous contributor. Unless someone has a source for Mary Peters's claim (made while in post bridge collapse damage control) I agree that the whole should be dropped. Nathan 23:58, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Biofuel section is poorly written

Can somebody revise the Biofuel section who knows more about it? It is very difficult to understand what in the world the author is trying to say. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 159.48.248.95 (talk) 16:33, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Rewritten. -- Beland (talk) 22:25, 13 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Citations for Australian

The 2006 bill mentioned in the article was passed. However the numbers listed here (38.1c +10% gst) is still correct.

http://www.ato.gov.au/budget/2007-08/bp1/html/bp1_bst5-10.htm mentions the 38.1c, but the link to the ATO in the citations section is broken

"Liability for fuel tax currently arises under the Excise Act 1901, the Excise Tariff Act 1921, the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Tariff Act 1995." (from 2006 fuel act - http://law.ato.gov.au/atolaw/view.htm?docid=PAC/20060072/2-1 ), i haven't been able to find the correct link to replace the broken one —Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.102.71.38 (talk) 05:46, 4 January 2008 (UTC)