A wheel tax is a method of taxation commonly used in the United States by cities and counties. The problem that a wheel tax attempts to solve is that many people come into a community from outside to work - using the community's roads, water, sewer, and so forth, but pay no taxes into the community as a result of living outside of the municipality.
The tax is charged to motorists based upon the number of wheels their vehicles have, often collected at the time of vehicle registration renewals.