Yesterday Ron Pulliam opined:
I'd guess our price per gallon is only fractionally taxed (less than 10%, I'd guess). Our trouble is corporate greed. So...I'm guessing that when we get up to $5 or $6 a gallon, the government (local/state or federal) will increase the taxes accordingly and we'll then pay $7 to $8 a gallon.
His guess of less than 10% misses the mark.
The current national average is over 20%, more in CA.
Most of the taxes on gasoline are cents/gallon, so as the price of gasoline rises, the percentage of taxes component decreases. In 2002 when the avg price of gas was $1.65, the average tax percentage was 31%.
Federal taxes are 18.4 cents per gallon and CA excise taxes add an additional 18 cents per gallon - all these funds go into highway trust funds earmarked for infrastructure improvements. In CA the state then adds a 7.25% sales tax (which goes to the General Fund), and indivual counties add up to an additional 1.25% sales tax which is usually earmarked for transportation projects.
Had our Federal and State government levied their gasoline taxes as a percentage rather than a fixed cents/gallon (which would have made more sense), then our highway trust funds could have kept up with the infrastructure demands - the Federal Interstates are fast becoming an embarassment! Compounding the highway funding picture is the fact that as cars get better mileage, the government collects fewer dollars per mile driven.
As to the fears of rising pump prices stimualting a grab for higher taxes, the opposite has been true - as pump prices rise, consumers (voters) are clamoring for the government to reduce the taxes!
If you want to point a finger a coporate greed as a factor in CA gasoline prices - don't look at the the Oil companies, aim for the midwest farmers and ADM who pressured the Feds to make CA use corn-based ethanol even thouhgh the state refineries could create gasoline that met all state and federal emission requirements without it! Here in DE, we feed corn to the chickens, in CA the feds make you feed corn to the Chevvy!
der Brucer