tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5773875.post110850406969567772..comments2023-11-06T01:56:43.668+14:00Comments on Sandcastles and Cubicles: A new kind of taxUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5773875.post-1108592382035954662005-02-17T12:19:00.000+14:002005-02-17T12:19:00.000+14:00"First, taxes on a single activity can have multip..."First, taxes on a single activity can have multiple metrics used to generate the amount of tax do on an activity. In this case, your 'road use tax' would be x per gallon used plus y per mile driven. This doesn't strike me as being necessarily unfair."<br /><br />I disagree. The purpose of a gasolie tax is to fix roads the purpose of a miles driven tax is to fix roads.<br /><br />You are doing one thing drving you car. And you are getting taxed twice to do that.<br /><br /><br />"Second, you can be talking about two seperate activities. If you accept the propostion that using roads has a general cost that should be recouped in taxes and using gas has a seperate general cost (pollution perhaps) that should be recouped in taxes as well, then taxing both activities makes sense. "<br /><br />I would agree IF i accepted that proposition. Taxing gas to reduce pollution may work, but historically that is not the reason gaslione has been taxed.<br /><br />Of course it has been taxed for just geneal revenue reasons before, but at the state level it normally is for roads.Man of Issacharhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01286646646103516828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5773875.post-1108587880498717392005-02-17T11:04:00.000+14:002005-02-17T11:04:00.000+14:00I don't neccessarily agree that this would be doub...I don't neccessarily agree that this would be double taxation. <br /><br />First, taxes on a single activity can have multiple metrics used to generate the amount of tax do on an activity. In this case, your 'road use tax' would be x per gallon used plus y per mile driven. This doesn't strike me as being necessarily unfair.<br /><br />Second, you can be talking about two seperate activities. If you accept the propostion that using roads has a general cost that should be recouped in taxes and using gas has a seperate general cost (pollution perhaps) that should be recouped in taxes as well, then taxing both activities makes sense. In some cases you will be doing both activities at once (driving on a road in a gas powered car) and will accrue both taxes. In other cases (driving an off-road vehicle, driving an electric car) you will only be doing the one thing and thus only pay one tax.<br /><br />My biggest issue with things like this though is that the specific taxes, imposed because of specific social costs an activity generates, almost always go into a states general fund and the expendatures on solving the problems causes and the revenue from the taxes is never connected (and almost never even close to the same ammounts).Dave Justushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04139807963654242625noreply@blogger.com