I saw an interesting letter to the editor in my local paper. It said that while we can piss and moan all we want about gas prices, the "enemy" is not Big Oil, but our local governments. The example given was as follows:
If you fill a 15 gallon gas tank, the oil companies make between $1.05 and $1.50 in profits. However, in NY, the federal, state and county taxes collected average $8.70!!!! That's based on federal tax of $0.18 and state and local taxes averaging $0.40. So, who is doing the reaming here???
Consider what you are getting in return for the oil company profit that you calculated and what you are getting from the federal, state, and local taxes you are getting. Also consider the methodology through which the oil companies arrive at what they charge and the methodology through which America's governments authorize taxes. I don't think any of us has any input into the oil companies methodology.
By the way, what jurisdication applies local taxes to gasoline?
Last edited by olivant; 06/17/0806:48 PM.
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