(03-27-2021, 08:33 PM)captivating Wrote:

(03-27-2021, 06:10 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: No, it doesn't make any sense, because it isn't enforceable.  How do you measure and collect such a tax?  Do people have to report their mileage?  You'd have widespread cheating.  Or, to avoid cheating, does the government track us when we are driving? 

It's unworkable.  

And why establish a new tax, with a new bureaucracy to enforce it, new forms to fill out?  What a waste of time.  Why not just raise the gas tax if you must raise new taxes?

You self assess your income tax. If you want to cheat, you can but you take a risk.  You can do the same with insurance and get cheaper insurance by saying you drive only 5,000 miles, but again, you take a risk if you cheat.

Same with this.

Most people cannot cheat on their income taxes, because the IRS has a copy of their W2.  It also has a copy of any 1099s from banks and brokerages.   Financial transactions are all recorded and a great majority of them are reported to the IRS.  

On the other hand, unless we allow the federal government to track us as we drive around (very unlikely), a mileage tax will be ALL self-reported, and it will be impossible for the IRS to detect the cheating.

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