Government and Hidden Taxes: The Challenges of Funding Government With Hidden Gas Taxes

In previous writings I pointed out how, on average, fewer gallons of fuel are being purchased each year as a result of different influences.


This means that government will have to keep increasing the per-gallon fuel tax just to keep the actual dollar amounts of tax revenues from dropping year after year from per-gallon taxes.

One potentially major problem with this need to keep raising the per-gallon fuel tax has to do with the idea that raising taxes does not automatically raise the income of those who have to pay the new higher taxes.

I have pointed out in previous parts of this series how hidden taxes are passed down to the consumer.  And while government is a consumer, government also gets its money from the taxes it collects.

Ultimately, therefore, raising taxes on non-government consumers without also raising their incomes simply means that they will have fewer after-tax dollars to spend on stuff they want or need. For example, if a people are currently paying an average of 15 cents of each dollar they spend on hidden taxes, raising those same hidden taxes to 20 cents will not automatically raise their earnings, it only means that the average consumer will be able to buy 5 cents less of the things they want and need with the same dollar.

Replacing a per-gallon fuel tax with a transparent tax only added on to consumer purchases would allow tax revenues to government to increase with any increases in taxable consumer spending.

It would also end the problem caused as a result of Americans doing what they are being encouraged to do, namely, drive more fuel efficient vehicles and drive fewer miles.

Those who use public transportation to get around are not purchasing fuel, and yet they still need roads.  A tax on consumer purchases applied to roads would provide funding for maintenance and improvements of the road used by public transportation without adding the cost of these taxes into the cost of providing public transportation services.

Thank you for taking time to read and ponder my opinion on this topic.
An Opinion Article by Dave Kemper
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It has been said that: "One definition of insanity is to do the same thing, the same way, over and over and over again, each time expecting to achieve a different result."
Therefore, we must either CHANGE the way we live, or we bind our future to our past as if with CHAINS.
"I do not consider myself to be better than anyone else.  But I do believe in exercising my right to not stay stupid."

David W. Kemper, Author
© Copyright 2014 by David William Kemper.  All right reserved
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