STATES DIFFER ON WISDOM OF GASOLINE TAX Publication: Automotive Daily News Date: 27 August 1925 Subject: American Government , Petroleum

Imposition of a special tax on gasoline and motor oil has produced conflicting reactions in various states. Inquiries by The Automotive Daily News reveal such a sharp divergence of opinion that it is impossible to form a general conclusion as to whether the tax is popular or unpopular. From some states where the tax is highest correspondents report a ready acquiescence on the part of the public in this method of raising revenue, while in others where the levy is least burdensome it is condenmed as an unscientific, discriminating, but easy means of swelling the public treasury.

Whether the tax is popular or unpopular, it is apparent from the investigations conducted by The Automotive Daily News that the lawmakers in states which thus far have escaped the tax are not overlooking this fresh source of revenue. New York state, for instance, faces the early prospect of being taxed on its gasoline consumption. This significant paragraph appears in the 1925 report of Tax Commission:—

“New York has only one method of taxing the automobile, and that is through the medium of registration fees. The payment of the registration fee automatically exempts the vehicle from the operation of the general property tax. No gasoline tax has as yet been inaugurated, although one has frequently been proposed, and this commission has viewed it as a proper feature to incorporate in our tax system. It inclines to the belief that the proper time to impose it has arrived.”

It is apparent from the symposium of views collected by The Automotive Daily News that the public attitude toward the gasoline tax is determined very largely by the manner in which the money derived therefrom is expended, the benefits accruing and the system of administration. In North Carolina, where the tax has been increased from 1 to 4 cents a gallon, and where there is reported a strong sentiment in favor of raising it to 5 cents, the people have been able to see direct and valuable returns in the form of a splendid system of highways. Other states that have had similar experience take a friendly view of the tax. On the other hand, the opposition to the tax is most pronounced in states where the public lacks confidence in the governmental agencies that are expending the money and where the visible results from this expenditure have been smallest.