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0 pointsRobotbeat3y ago0 comments

EV fees are already much higher than the state gas tax they replace in many places, especially considering the extra sales tax on the battery, tax on electricity, and even personal property tax on the battery. The idea EVs get a free pass is a myth.

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dahfizz3y ago

> especially considering the extra sales tax on the battery, tax on electricity, and even personal property tax on the battery.

I don't understand, do you pay an extra tax on the battery? Sales & property tax on a $60k car should always be the same, regardless of powertrain.

sokoloff3y ago

The electric car I drive (LEAF) costs about $12K-15K more than the roughly comparable ICE car (Versa). Taking the lower estimate, the sales tax difference in my state is $750, which is the state gas tax on just over 3100 gallons or about 100K miles of gasoline purchased for the car.

RobotbeatOP3y ago

Yup, and consider that sales tax applies any time the car is sold, and often cars are sold multiple times in their lives.

xur173y ago

I'm guessing the argument is that EV's cost more upfront (since they include a battery, etc), but have a lower cost of use. Since you get charged sales tax on the upfront cost, EV's get charged sales tax on a larger percentage of the overall "ownership cost" of the car.

RobotbeatOP3y ago

Exactly. With gas cars, you pay for gasoline over time. With electric cars, you pay about 50/50 upfront on battery & over time on electricity. EV owners are being punished for paying for part of the “fuel” costs upfront. For whatever reason, capital costs for consumers are penalized with taxes more than incremental operating costs.

bobthepanda3y ago

I mean, we don’t charge lower gas taxes to luxury cars because they pay more upfront, so I don’t know why this is now an expectation for EVs. And we’ve never had flat taxes for sales; gas is actually the only exception in the US I’m aware of, but that’s probably because of the price volatility of gas making a percentage tax hard to budget for.

robertlagrant3y ago

> For whatever reason, capital costs for consumers are penalized with taxes more than incremental operating costs.

How so? Is the gas tax lower than the purchase taxes?

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dahfizz3y ago

> especially considering the extra sales tax on the battery, tax on electricity, and even personal property tax on the battery.

I don't understand, do you pay an extra tax on the battery? Sales & property tax on a $60k car should always be the same, regardless of powertrain.

sokoloff3y ago

RobotbeatOP3y ago

Yup, and consider that sales tax applies any time the car is sold, and often cars are sold multiple times in their lives.

xur173y ago

RobotbeatOP3y ago

bobthepanda3y ago

robertlagrant3y ago

> For whatever reason, capital costs for consumers are penalized with taxes more than incremental operating costs.

How so? Is the gas tax lower than the purchase taxes?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse