Vehicle A gets 10 mpg and drives 600 miles a month. Vehicle B gets 40 mpg and drives 1200 miles a month.
I'm going to assume it's all gasoline.
I'm going to assume they have the same gas price of $2.50/gallon.
California's gas tax is 41.7 cents per gallon plus 2.25% sales tax.
Vehicle A uses 60 gallons a month, which works out to $28.40/month in fuel tax.
Vehicle B uses 30 gallons a month, which works out to $14.20/month in fuel tax.
If we add a $0.01/mile mileage tax, that adds $6.00 to Vehicle A, bringing the monthly cost to $34.40/month.
If we add a $0.01/mile mileage tax, that adds $12.00 to Vehicle B, bringing the monthly cost to $26.20/month.
This way, Vehicle A still pays more tax and is basically 'penalized' for driving a gas guzzler, but the fact that it drove half the miles is worth something.
Vehicle B still gets rewarded for driving a fuel efficient vehicle, but because it drives twice as many miles, there's some penalty for that.
The logic of it makes sense, but tracking the miles seems to be where I would be worried.
It seems reasonable. Tax the fuel and the miles.
Let's do an exercise.
Vehicle A gets 10 mpg and drives 600 miles a month. Vehicle B gets 40 mpg and drives 1200 miles a month. I'm going to assume it's all gasoline. I'm going to assume they have the same gas price of $2.50/gallon. California's gas tax is 41.7 cents per gallon plus 2.25% sales tax.
Vehicle A uses 60 gallons a month, which works out to $28.40/month in fuel tax. Vehicle B uses 30 gallons a month, which works out to $14.20/month in fuel tax.
If we add a $0.01/mile mileage tax, that adds $6.00 to Vehicle A, bringing the monthly cost to $34.40/month. If we add a $0.01/mile mileage tax, that adds $12.00 to Vehicle B, bringing the monthly cost to $26.20/month.
This way, Vehicle A still pays more tax and is basically 'penalized' for driving a gas guzzler, but the fact that it drove half the miles is worth something. Vehicle B still gets rewarded for driving a fuel efficient vehicle, but because it drives twice as many miles, there's some penalty for that.
The logic of it makes sense, but tracking the miles seems to be where I would be worried.