Gov't Thinking About Taxing You Based on How Much You Drive

The government is entertaining a new tax, one that's based on how many miles you drive. And not only would you have to pay the tax, but you would also be required to install an electronic device in your car to track your miles, and the government would have to create a whole regulation office.

Sounds great, doesn't it?

From The Hill:

The plan is a part of the administration's Transportation Opportunities Act, an undated draft of which was obtained this week by Transportation Weekly.

[...]

News of the draft follows a March Congressional Budget Office report that supported the idea of taxing drivers based on miles driven.Among other things, CBO suggested that a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax could be tracked by installing electronic equipment on each car to determine how many miles were driven; payment could take place electronically at filling stations.

[...]

Obama's proposal seems to follow up on that idea in section 2218 of the draft bill. That section would create, within the Federal Highway Administration, a Surface Transportation Revenue Alternatives Office. It would be tasked with creating a "study framework that defines the functionality of a mileage-based user fee system and other systems."

According to the White House, the bill is not an official proposal and hasn't been widely circulated.

“This is not an administration proposal," White House spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki told The Hill. "This is not a bill supported by the administration. This was an early working draft proposal that was never formally circulated within the administration, does not taken into account the advice of the president’s senior advisers, economic team or Cabinet officials, and does not represent the views of the president.”