Like the nifty little trick the government uses to hide half of the taxes you pay in to the Social Security system they also never tell you how much you pay in taxes every time you go to the pump. Buying gas the other day I was studying the sign on the top of the pump, “$186.9 (includes all taxes).” It occurred to me that I have no idea what those taxes are. So I fired up Google and set out to learn just how much of my weekly gas purchase was going to the government.

For every gallon of gas, the federal government collects 18.4¢. For my typical 11 gallon fill-up that's $2.024 which is $105.248 a year. The state of Connecticut takes in $.25 per gallon. That's $2.75 every trip to the pump or $143 a year. There is also a 5% excise tax. That's another $.07 per gallon, $.77 per tank, $40.04 per year That's a total tax of $288.29. This doesn't include any taxes on the production and delivery of the fuel to the station that get rolled into the price.

I drive a small car with a small gas tank, if it takes 12 gallons at the pump I barely made it there. I have a fairly short commute in the opposite direction of rush hour gridlock so I don't spend any time sitting in traffic. Someone with an SUV or a modern land yacht probably pays at least twice the tax.

The governor recently proposed a increase in the gas tax to help cover a growing budget gap. The proposal was not well received though it has not been shelved. I think I would be willing to accept a higher gas tax if it came with a regulation that the sign on top of the pump revealed what the per gallon taxes are. If they are going to take my money, they should do it openly and honestly.

Instead we have representatives like Andrew Fleischmann who has introduced legislation requiring theaters to include two times in their advertising. One for the time the trailers begin and one for when the movie actually starts. He calls it a matter of truth in advertising.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 06:17 PM | No Comments | Add Comment