GOP megabill would hit vehicle owners with new annual charge
Source: Raw Story
April 29, 2025 1:58PM ET
The draft text of a Republican megabill indicated that House Republicans intended to impose a $20 annual fee on each vehicle owned in the US.
According to Politico, the new provisions were included in the House Transportation Committee's portion of what President Donald Trump has referred to as "one big beautiful bill."
"The new fee is intended to move the country away from the 18.4 cents-per-gallon federal gasoline tax, which has not been raised since 1993 and has had its buying power steadily eroded even as infrastructure spending has increased," the report said.
"Besides the broad $20 levy, the proposal would impose an annual vehicle registration fee of $200 for electric vehicles and $100 for hybrid vehicles."
Read more: https://www.rawstory.com/gop-20-dollar-vehicle-fee/
(Politico had this in their "live updates" column)
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ImNotGod
(669 posts)
oswaldactedalone
(3,565 posts)They don’t have to accept pennies as payment.
lapfog_1
(30,840 posts)This is aimed as a) imposing more flat tax ideas and b) increasing the use of oil and the production of green house gases.
mpcamb
(3,076 posts)while they were railing against this unpopular tax proposal.
Next step: withdraw it 'cause 'my people might be injured by it.'
Initech
(104,623 posts)
SWBTATTReg
(25,214 posts)car owner/vehicle owner. And when one does their taxes, there's often not really a one for one relationship between a vehicle being depreciated on taxes vs. not even filing a tax form (but still owning a vehicle).
cloudbase
(5,958 posts)on your annual state registration, with the fee going as a pass-through from the state to the feds.
Mr. Evil
(3,270 posts)But, I'd be willing to bet that the states would also add a 'processing' fee for doing so. I mean, why would they leave themselves out of the free money grab gravy train? My guess is that so-called red states would just love it.
Nasruddin
(1,000 posts)cloudbase
(5,958 posts)
MichMan
(15,041 posts)
Igel
(36,742 posts)Quoting https://transportation.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=408418,
By leveraging states’ existing registration systems, the bill assesses an annual registration fee of $200 on EVs and $100 on hybrids (which currently pay a lesser share into the HTF) to ensure they pay for their use of the nation’s roads and bridges.
The $20 levy, which is proposed to kick in in 2031, would follow the same mechanism.
GregariousGroundhog
(7,579 posts)Couldn't a state such as California refuse to collect the fee the same way they refuse to work with the federal government on immigration issues?
Igel
(36,742 posts)But lowering the speed limit to 55 mph also required the states to play ball.
Except that the highway fund money was to be withheld from any state that didn't comply with the executive branch's dictum.
(Raising the drinking age was the same deal for federal funds--you comply or we deny.)
Ursus Rex
(363 posts)At a live speech in Tuscaloosa (!), someone asked him whether it was hypocritical to talk about states' rights and then force them to do what the Fed wants and The Charming Dotard said "well, your lives are worth breaking a promise." The crowd went nuts for that bit and their kids are gonna go crazy when TSF speaks today.
dweller
(26,498 posts)To impose the $20 “tax” on vehicle owners ?
A bill once a year ? Added to their income taxes (that he proposes to ‘eliminate’ ? )
Collect from the states ? I suppose states could tell him to stuff it .
Gas tax is paid at the pump …
🤔
✌🏻
kelly1mm
(5,706 posts)
wolfie001
(4,800 posts)Tarzanrock
(770 posts)... MAGAt pick-up driving Turd voters who hate taxes.
Eugene
(64,673 posts)A vehicle excise tax that penalizes new energy vehicles: I didn't have that on my bingo card. Even Project 2025 only proposes to "pump the brakes" on EVs.
JMCKUSICK
(2,096 posts)that $20 fee would raise less than $5.6 billion dollars a year. In 2016, $36 Billion was raised from Federal gas taxes.
Math sucks for GOP
Marthe48
(20,546 posts)Last edited Tue Apr 29, 2025, 08:53 PM - Edit history (1)
r's like to stick it to Americans.
muriel_volestrangler
(103,522 posts)And they say over $50bn in a decade from the new tax.
But the point is they're making an electric vehicle owner pay even more - as much as a high mileage gasoline vehicle owner.
Bengus81
(8,738 posts)They want BOTH and will tax those who can't afford more.
muriel_volestrangler
(103,522 posts)which, at the 35 mpg fuel economy standard, would be over 34,000 miles - far more than most people travel. This is a way to make electric vehicle owners pay more than those with a polluting gasoline engine. But, you know, not producing CO2 is "woke", so they have it coming ...
regnaD kciN
(27,005 posts)…$20 base charge + $200 electric fee = $220 per year.
For us hybrid drivers, it’s $120.
underpants
(190,234 posts)If your state charges personal property tax on cars. As I posted below, Virginia has an add on for hybrids already.
Bengus81
(8,738 posts)than the property tax on older vehicles.
muriel_volestrangler
(103,522 posts)underpants
(190,234 posts)$4.57 on every $100 assessed value + I think $64 (it was $100 until 2013) on hybrids or high efficiency over 35 MPG. 35.
Gotta get that fuel tax back somehow.
My head would ache if I was only getting 35. I average right at 45 and on certain trips in the right conditions I’ve hit 60 per my dashboard display.
getagrip_already
(17,702 posts)Two ways. First, it overestimates the miles/kw you have achieved, and second, it over drives the mileage you drive, increasing the odometer beyond what you actually drive.
So it appears you went more miles per charge, and your vehicle reaches it warranty limit quicker.
They tell the computer what to tell you. It isn't real data you are seeing, just a representation of it.
SunSeeker
(55,623 posts)
sheshe2
(91,663 posts)Making America Great Again stuff! Taxes and Tariffs. Oh My! 
Bengus81
(8,738 posts)I don't give a shit if that 18 cents of Fed tax comes off on fuel. It will RISE right back to that level in no time.
progree
(11,853 posts)These are subject to the $100/year or $200/year tax.
It's infuriating to me that there's no incentive to drive less -- a vehicle owner pays the same whether they drive 1,000 miles per year or 30,000 miles/year.
It's also odd that ordinary hybrids (those that aren't plug-in's) are charged extra (compared to traditional gasoline vehicles) even though every single joule of energy used to move the car and power the auxiliaries (heating, air conditioning, lights etc.) comes from the gasoline. Regular hybrids are simply relatively high efficiency gasoline vehicles that use regenerative braking and a secondary electric motor (whose electricity comes from the gasoline engine or regenerative braking) to make them more gasoline-efficient overall. But in a Republican world, all that efficiency is bad.
Google: "why are regular hybrid vehicles efficient?"
underpants
(190,234 posts)I average at least 45 MPG sometimes 50.
flashman13
(1,169 posts)Currently that 18.4 cent Federal gas tax they are talking about is deposited to the U.S. Highway Trust Fund. That money is specifically dedicated to new construction and maintenance of highways. The point is that it is dedicated by statute for that purpose.
The article doesn't make it clear whether the $20 fee is on top of the existing Federal tax or will it completely replace the tax. If the tax stays in place, we will at least still have some money to fund roads. What do you want to bet that the various new fees will not be earmarked for highway construction? If the big beautiful bill doesn't specify that the fees go to the trust fund (they won't) they will go to funding eLoon's trip to Mars or maybe Donny's golf outings.
For the party that hates taxes, WTF, Over?
kelly1mm
(5,706 posts)
PatSeg
(50,108 posts)you just know it will be a total crap. Even worse, if he ways he "cherishes" it.
tetedur
(1,240 posts)In Louisiana, it is $60.00 per year for a hybrid and $100.00 for an electric. I wonder if this would make people pay $100 to the state and $200 to the feds per year.
Exp
(278 posts)
pansypoo53219
(22,163 posts)
Warpy
(113,287 posts)to make us pay for tax cuts for the billionaires.
"Well, there are milions of cars, a couple of hundred par car per year would finance a pretty big cut!"
There was no fraud or waste and simply eliminating programs instituted by and funded by Congress has them in deep constitutional doo doo. They're also trying to fire as many government empolyees as they can, something that is not their job and which is going to make agencies people rely on user unfriendly for years to come. No one will thank them for any of it.
add this to the total fiasco those tariffs have caused and you can see why I think King Hemorrhoid's tax cuts for the 1% are going to be so much smaller than he's promised them that he will lose even their supp0rt, as well as any interest he ever had in being our King.
Montauk6
(9,046 posts)Remember when they were all about hands-off the free market?
Remember how they preached the good news of Austrian Economics (which oddly enough never even touched the border of Austria, hmmmm) and laissez faire?
My how the worm turns and does the boogie-woogie....
Bob_in_VA
(102 posts)Funny. If you look at that phrase carefully, you realize that it represents a very sound economic policy. I mean, government decides that it needs x billions of dollars for, say, single payer health care. So the government passes tax legislation that raises those billions, which are then spent to provide universal health care. Everyone gets better health care, no more health related bankruptcies AND no increase in the Federal deficit. Now, contrast that with Republican policies, say, the Iraq War, where the Republican led government put multi trillions of dollars on the national credit card, vastly increasing the Federal deficit. Oh yeah, baby! Gimme that ol' tax and spend policy any day!
Montauk6
(9,046 posts)"They spend like drunken sailors."
Yeah, right.....
TomCADem
(17,821 posts)...in order to target women, minorities, immigrants, etc. It is a pretty well known quid pro quo.
Grins
(8,320 posts)My car has a 14 gallon tank.
If I come in on fumes every week to refuel = 728 gals
The feds collect $135.
Which is more than $20. How is the $115 difference going to be replaced?
And why muck with an efficient system already in place????
Aussie105
(6,982 posts)You will be paying both.
The feds will still collect that $135.
You will also pay that $20.
Think 'as well as' rather than 'instead of'.
New taxes/fees/charges/imposts never make old taxes go away.
Only exception I can think of was the English windows tax, when glass was expensive and only rich people could afford windows.
(Solution? Windows got bricked in.)
BumRushDaShow
(151,641 posts)Shutters!
Old Crank
(5,584 posts)Vehicle miles travelled and gvw. The old gas tax did that to an extent. Electric is heavier and caused more road damage. Drive more, pay more.
bucolic_frolic
(50,074 posts)plus county bridge fee, and driver's license fees are up about double. Now the Feds want in on the action.
Registrations and Licensing is a profit center for government, much like licensing and inspections for city governments.
Getting the government off our backs much, Republicans?
BumRushDaShow
(151,641 posts)I literally just paid my car registration renewal last week and had never noticed a "County Use Fee" until you mentioned about county fees. I started doing 2-year renewals with my previous renew and just compared the two and it DID go up by $6 a year. The County fee stayed the same.
Since my car is over 10 years old, I am thankfully now exempt from paying for emission (had it inspected last week).
bucolic_frolic
(50,074 posts)But renewals were about $36 not so long ago. Now it's ... $50? County use fee was said to pay for bridges. Once they get the bridges fixed, will it go away? No. They'll say it's for traffic lights. DOT are profit centers for states. Fees for everything. Buy, sell, license, drive, fix. They sent me new plates. What's wrong with the old ones? Nothing. But they said they could be illegible, non-reflective, torn. There's no direct charge for the new plates. But they pay for them from something else. Then there's the insurance discount for completing driving 65 course. Licensed by the state. Entrepreneurs. Once you get a state contract, you set up for generations.
Everything is so complicated.
BumRushDaShow
(151,641 posts)so $45 per year. But that was up $6 from when I last did it in 2023, where it was $39. My "County Fee" was $10 (for the 2 years so apparently $5 per year), and that didn't change.
I remember way back during Wolf's first term, when a lot of this restructuring with the license fees and registration fees, was going on, and that ended up including the phased increase of the state gas tax, at the time making PA #1 for a gas tax amount!
As of this year, the gasoline tax is $0.576/gallon.
All of this was supposed to be "for roads and bridges". And the sad thing is that it has taken so long to get around to surveying and costing out the repair costs for the infrastructure, it has gotten so bad that the cost to repair/replace continues to skyrocket beyond any of the typical funding mechanisms. I remember when Biden went to visit Pittsburgh to tout a bridge project and that very day, that bridge collapsed (with a bus and a couple cars on it too).
And this isn't even including the need to bolster the public transit.
Deminpenn
(16,748 posts)funded from it. That's why there's not enough for fixing roads and bridges. The state legislature did finally cap what PSP can get, but it's still around $800M.
PSP should have their own budget line and then we could have a discussion about the real cost of municipalities disbanding the local police depts and using PSP instead. Using the gas tax/motor vehicles fund to pay PSP just hides the true cost of the PSP.
BumRushDaShow
(151,641 posts)Shapiro very clearly articulated that issue.
I didn't follow-up regarding what the state Senate planned to do with that though (as they are now the true obstructionists).
And agree - I think that was an artifact of a long bygone era (especially when Committees are are in the habit of just taking a previous year's budget blueprint and reusing it for the current year and simply updating that with new numbers, without making any other changes). I thought there already was a line item for the state police and this was sort of "supplementary" (meaning their "true" budget needs to be in the single line item).
bucolic_frolic
(50,074 posts)Fun to take the cost of the project and divide it by the length of the road repaired. Easily $250 per linear foot and often 2-3 times that.
I don't see the sense to renewing for 2 years at a time. Car could be totaled next time out. I don't expect a refund from DOT for unused 22 months of vehicle registration.
Deminpenn
(16,748 posts)It's $5 here, but when the fee first was implemented, if you registered for 2 years, the county fee was $5 until the state figured out car owners were registering for 2 years and getting a break. Now it's $10 county fee for a 2 year registration.
But more seriously, many states are trying to figure out how to replace lost gas tax revenue. IIRC, there have been proposals floated in PA to tax miles driven, but no ideas about how to collect that. The state does require owners write the mileage from their odometer each time they renew their registration so they could just subtract from year to year and send a bill. I don't think any proposals about installing monitoring devices would fly at all.. Another possibility is to pay the miles driven tax when you buy a new car. The dealer could substract the mileage on the car from the mileage on the origianl sales slip and they buyer would just pay that as part of the sales transaction.
BumRushDaShow
(151,641 posts)so prior to that, I mailed it in and didn't remember how/if it was itemized as clearly as it is now.
The one thing that does happen, which is possible for how they can collect mileage data, is that whenever I get my car inspected (which is obviously a requirement in the state), my service folks (a dealer) get the mileage. They have generally used that to estimate "when to come back for service" (and will stick some number of miles on a sticker that they stick in the upper left corner of my car windshield). But if inspection facilities (dealers, service centers, etc) DO collect and keep that info, then that could be handed over to the state.
I know when I bring mine in, they laugh because as of today, I have had my car for 11 years (I think 4/30 was the actual date when I took delivery back in 2014), and as of last week when I got it inspected, it still has less than 19,000 miles on it.
634-5789
(4,461 posts)Fatass will try anything to drag us back to coal and dirty oil....I don't care, I'll buy EVs from here on out.
Historic NY
(38,914 posts)so this is on top of the Federal Motor fuel tax . When you own multiple cars that some state tax through vehicle registrations, this adds up pretty quickly . National Vehicle registration but they tell us we can't do that with guns. A 20 dollar per gun each year with bring in same cash. By some estimates more that 500 millions guns are owned here in the US
Bengus81
(8,738 posts)It will still be there along with this new TAX.
Old Crank
(5,584 posts)and install the $20 per car fee it essentially gives fuel burning cars a free federal pass for road use.
This while charging alternative options extra money.
Would this also apply to commercial diesel trucks?
Road damage is largely a function of vehicle weight. A motorcycle doesn't damage the roads as much as a regular car. An EV weighs more and causes more damage. The large SUVs cause even more per mile. This new plan means no charge for any damage weight and mileage driven will cause.
I am in favour of some kind of charge for EVs to cover some of the costs for the road damage.
The best way is for all vehicle to be charged with some formulation of a vehicle milage fee based on miles travelled and vehicle weight. Pay for what you use and the cost of the upkeep.
JustAnotherGen
(34,796 posts)Taxed To Death unless you make a million dollars a year.
area51
(12,293 posts)
NickB79
(19,884 posts)Right now we finance a lot of road repairs via gas taxes. But as EV and hybrid sales rise, gas demand, and thus taxes, fall. Take this out to the hypothetical future where ALL cars are EV's, and your road funds would be wiped out.
We clearly need a new way of paying for roads, and it's likely either a one-time annual fee or a per-mile fee that requires some sort of odometer check.
tonekat
(2,210 posts)Can we put a tariff on his use of "beautiful"?
Eugene
(64,673 posts)The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee voted 36-30 to approve a proposal from Representative Sam Graves, who heads the panel. The proposal includes $12.5 billion for air traffic control reform efforts, down from $15 billion in an early draft.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-house-republicans-drop-20-114118483.html
BumRushDaShow
(151,641 posts)Then later drafts will reduce that further and further until it is drowned in a bathtub and nothing will change, which has been the case for the ATC systems for the past 40 years.