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State Officials Push for Ad Valorem Gasoline Tax

1 min readBy: Joseph Bishop-Henchman

The current federal gasoline taxA tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. is a fixed rate: 18.4 cent per gallon. So while gas prices go up, the tax collected on each gallon remains the same. Here’s a chart from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) showing how inflationInflation is when the general price of goods and services increases across the economy, reducing the purchasing power of a currency and the value of certain assets. The same paycheck covers less goods, services, and bills. It is sometimes referred to as a “hidden tax,” as it leaves taxpayers less well-off due to higher costs and “bracket creep,” while increasing the government’s spending power. erodes the adjusted revenues from the tax:

AASHTO is pitching that Congress switch the gasoline tax to an ad valorem tax, one based on a percentage of the value of the sale price. Like a sales taxA sales tax is levied on retail sales of goods and services and, ideally, should apply to all final consumption with few exemptions. Many governments exempt goods like groceries; base broadening, such as including groceries, could keep rates lower. A sales tax should exempt business-to-business transactions which, when taxed, cause tax pyramiding. , they suggest a rate of 8.4% for gasoline and 10.4% for diesel. They estimate that as gasoline prices rise, that would result in an additional $43 billion in federal revenue over six years, revenue they want spent on transportation projects.

The Wall Street Journal suggests that the proposal may be used in Lame Duck session bargaining after the election:

Florida Rep. John Mica, the ranking Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said that any proposal that would have Americans paying more at the pump would be a “non-starter.”

“Anyone that thinks the new members who are coming to Congress, whether Republican or Democrat, are going to vote for a gas-tax increase—they’re smoking some kind of funny weed,” Mr. Mica said.

Still, the Obama administration has a key bargaining tool—the Bush-era tax cuts. Democrats could potentially offer to drop their opposition to extending cuts for the wealthy in exchange for Republican support for a White House-backed bill authorizing additional infrastructure spending.

Samuel Skinner, a former Transportation Secretary under President George H.W. Bush who attended Monday’s meeting at the White House, said lawmakers from both parties have indicated in personal conversations that they expect those two matters to be the main issues debated in the lame-duck Congress.

More on gasoline taxes here.

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