"Hybrid Tax" (or fee) in your state? Legal?

^^correct answer is directly above

 

Think you have it bad with that $65 hybrid tax, then try this.

I bought my latest hybrid (CT200h) in Denmark. It is a car which here costs 425000DKK, or $75900. Now. This seems like a steep price when you can get one in the US for what, $32000? Well. I had to buy one CT200h for myself here and then one for the state since they tax me 180% on the hybrid components.

Or to be completely precise:
Price of the car (what Lexus and my fine salesman gets): 194.399DKK
107% tax on the first 79000DKK: 82950DKK
180% on the rest: 181851DKK
Reduction because of good fuel economy: -33600DKK. Notice how this pales compared to the 82950DKK+181851DKK base tax!

Other reductions because of good safety features reduced the price further resulting in the 425000DKK final price.

I could also have bought a Volkswagen Up! (sic) for 90000DKK where only 20000DKK would have been to the state, and enjoyed a car worth 78% of what I paid, rather than only 46% which is the case with my Lexus.

For reasons like this Lexus has withdrawn from Denmark, pending reconsideration once a more sensible tax system is in place... as promised by our last 3 or so governments.

 

This was the govt. using leverage to solidify European produced automobiles no doubt...

 

If you take the Queen's shilling, and eat the Queen's biscuit, then you have to take the Queen's...er...crap.
Life 101.

Do I like the Hybrid tax?
Heck no! I don't like any taxes that aren't levied specifically to generate income, which means course that tax breaks are evil too.
All of them.
If I were King for a day...it would only last a day of course because I would be assassinated before I could tell the Royal Chef what I would like for dinner that evening, but I digress.
If I were KFAD we would have a graduated (either income, sales,or VAT) tax system that you could reconcile on a postcard. I prefer a simplified graduated income tax system that the bed-wetting libs would still scream about, but that would free the poor to buy stupid stuff like food and lodging.
No breaks.
No loopholes.
No exemptions.
No exclusions.
The Eco-Chic wouldn't get special breaks or special taxes, and they'll still have the mastodon SUVs on the road to vent their collective spleens at, so they'll be no better or worse off in the long run.

Unfortunately the United States isn't ruled by a benevolent dictator, but rather we're 'governed' as a moderately corrupted representative republic, elected by an uninformed citizenry.....which means we're going to get EXACTLY the government that we deserve!

Me?
I don't live in a Commonwealth (any longer) so I get to not care about it for now.

 

^^^ I am writing you in on ballot for my vote for next Gov of Virginia...if you are following that mess, that means you have a chance to win. Get ready.

 

You'd better be VERY careful who you pick as the Lt Governor.

Edit: Does that mean that I can list Gubernatorial candidate for the Commonwealth of Virginia on my profile?

 

Fuel efficient cars aren't light. A Prius weighs over 3000 lbs and all that weight is directed over much smaller contact patches than other cars and trucks. The psi pushed down on the road is probably actually higher for the Prius than most other cars.

 

3000 lbs is light.

And if the tires are inflated to 35 PSI, the car cannot be exerting more than 35 PSI on the road, or they would be flat.

List of Car Weights

 

The Prius weighs within a BTD (Big Turkey Dinner) of a Corolla, and dimensionally speaking they're pretty close to the same car.
Here's the real kicker: They roll on the same tires and rims, or at least the size is the same.
Same package basically, minus the fifth door which is the 'official' reason that the Corolla is "small" and the Prius is "midsize" as far as my beloved government is concerned.
Of course....the government also says that the debt is "manageable" so they're not exactly subject matter experts at deciding what is big and little....or for that matter, good or bad.

If you're going to charge people for the wear and tear on the roads?
Tax the fuel if you must, but then SPEND THE MONEY ON THE ROADS!!!!!!
For state and local roads?
Tax miles driven.
You have to document odometer readings when you get inspection stickers.
Done.

 

Distance-based insurance would go far in correcting inequities, without involving any complicated and expensive taxation schemes. People seem to think this means being actively tracked, but a simple annual odometer reading would suffice. People who don't drive much won't have to pay so much, and the people who incur more risk will be the ones funding the payouts.

 

They never spend the money on the roads. Drive through down town richmond and you'll see, or actually feel that.

 

The air in the tires doesn't circumvent gravity. Have a buddy drive over your foot with your car and see if it feels like only 35lbs rolled over it.

 

I ran over my x-wife's foot. It didn't help....

 

It's always a good exercise to see what a new economic incentive systems causes in ripple effects. I'm thinking of how much incentive there is to "fake" the odometer. How hard can it be? Or more precisely, how cost effective can it be? What happens when someone buys a new car just before inspection time? What about folks that drive their cars for business (e.g. paper or pizza delivery)? How long before 100's of pages of (even more) regulations and laws about odometer technology and handling? (always occurring after someone has perfected screwing the system).

I have always noticed, for a tax to be "fairer" it often has to be more "complicated". When more "complicated" it becomes more unevenly enforced. At the end of the day, the honest citizen is the one screwed when the claim was that the honest citizen would be treated more fairly. This brings us back to the OP point.

 

PSI (Pound per square inch) and pounds are not the same.

Four 5 inch by 5 inch contact patches at 35 PSI holds up 3000 pounds, and could hold up 3500 pounds.

If the air in the tires can't hold up against gravity, your rims touch the ground

 

Yeah and when the tire rolls over your foot 1/4 of 3000lbs is gonna roll over it. I think we are both trying to say the same thing.

 

This is IMHO the simplest solution to the issue.

Eliminate gasoline tax entirely. Using the socially accepted paradigm of "less subsidizes more" (e.g healthy subsidizes sick, safe driver subsidizes bad etc.) figure a national average of 15,000 miles per year driven. Divide vehicles up based on EPA size class and levy a flat, yearly "road use tax". This can be broken up quarterly or whatever.

No odometers to track, no possibilities for fraud, and no concessions or penalties for "fuel efficiency" because the only things taken into consideration are size and weight.

Unfortunately this is too simple of an idea and doesn't occupy space on 1,000 sheets of letter size paper, therefore it won't happen.

 

...you know that equation doesn't work for Virginia, we need to have north VA paying 2x of south VA amount.