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Report: Fuel smugglers costing Europe $4B+ in lost taxes

Filed under: Europe, Government/Legal

Euros in Fuel Tank

Cash-strapped European governments have been fighting a parasitic drain on their tax revenues from fuel theft and the tax fraud that goes along with it. According to a report from Bloomberg, individual governments are losing anywhere from 100 million to 1.3 billion euros ($133 million to $1.7 billion at today’s rates) due to the scams. The increase in theft and fraud is being blamed on a 52-percent jump in diesel prices.

Eastern European markets have seemingly been hit the hardest, with untaxed diesel estimated to make up 13 percent of Poland’s market, while the Czech Republic estimates that 20 percent of the fuel its citizens consume is provided illegally. In Lithuania and Poland, fuel is selling for 1.34 euros per liter and 1.30 euros per liter ($6.74 per gallon and $6.55 per gallon), respectively, while across the border in Russia, it’s 31.27 rubles per liter ($3.57 per gallon). This has led to a booming trade of both Poles and Lithuanians traveling across the border to purchase fuel legally, and a black market that’s seen Russian gas sold locally for less-than-local prices while still turning a profit. According to Bloomberg, 25 percent of Lithuanians admit to buying illegal fuel.

Western Europe hasn’t been immune to the scams, though. The Bloomberg piece opens with a bit on workers smuggling 912,000 liters of fuel out of a German refinery from the start of 2011 to last June. In Northern Ireland, black market diesel is 40 pence per liter lower than the UK’s average diesel price of 1.42 pound per liter (converted to USD, that’s $5.98 per gallon of illegal diesel to $8.33 per gallon of the taxed stuff).

As governments are a bit quicker to respond to things when their pockets are being lightened, several countries have tweaked their tax codes regarding fuel trades, closing the loopholes used by smugglers. Ireland has gone so far as to implement electronic monitoring for fuel movements. In Poland, the new coding is expected to slash illegal trade by 50 percent within four years.

Fuel smugglers costing Europe $4B+ in lost taxes originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 11:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Democrats and Republicans agree on higher gas taxes, just not in public all the time

Filed under: Government/Legal

Senator Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles

Senator Alan Simpson (left) and Erskine Bowles (right), Co-Chairman of the Deficit Reduction Commission

There is a sport in Washington D.C. that comes around like deer season every year: the gas tax debate. And stepping into the clearing this week with brown overcoats and deer antler hats are some former legislators and government officials – none of whom have to run for office – who are recommending a 15-cent additional federal gas tax starting in 2013 to help trim the federal budget deficit.

This measure has about as much chance of getting through the new Congress as a proclamation that would make Earth Day a national bank holiday. Still, given the fact that the Feds have laid a claim to my nine-year old son’s unborn children’s piggybanks, it’s worth a few minutes to air out the subject.

The co-chairman of the bipartisan deficit reduction commission, former Clinton Administration official Erskine Bowles and former Republican Senator Alan Simpson, have called for a sweeping set of reforms in the way of taxes, spending cuts and elimination of a myriad of tax credits and deductions to which we have grown accustomed – mortgage interest for one.
The 15-cent per gallon hike in Federal gas taxes is paltry by European standards, but would be used specifically for transportation infrastructure improvement: roads, bridges, etc.

Continue reading Democrats and Republicans agree on higher gas taxes, just not in public all the time

Democrats and Republicans agree on higher gas taxes, just not in public all the time originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Study: Americans prefer tolls over fuel taxes… how about you?

Filed under: Government/Legal, Earnings/Financials

One fact seems indisputable: Americans have come to hate taxes and any suggestion by a politician to raise them is tantamount to political suicide. The problem is that public infrastructure requires funding – and lots of it. Critics of this disparity would argue that a lack of political will to raise fuel taxes has left roads, bridges and tunnels across America crumbling in recent decades.

A new survey conducted by HNTB Corporation suggests that Americans would prefer to pay tolls or let their roads crumble rather than pay higher fuel taxes. While this may well be a valid survey, it’s important to note that HNTB is an infrastructure firm that supplies toll collecting equipment, among other things.

In any case, the study’s findings note that “when given a choice between new roads funded by an increased gas tax, by new tolls or no new roads at all, Americans prefer tolls (41 percent) or no new roads at all (41 percent) over increased gas taxes (18 percent).” Further, “A strong majority of Americans (84 percent) feel tolls should be considered project-by-project or as a primary source of transportation revenue. Only a small minority (16 percent) say tolls should never be used.”

In the old days, toll booths were a pain because every car had to stop and pay. The advent of affordable radio frequency transponder systems like EZ-Pass now allows commuters to drive toll roads and pay automatically without stopping – or even thinking about how much money using such systems costs them. Of course, this type of toll collecting raises other issues including invasion of privacy concerns, since the operators know where specific cars are at certain points in time. There’s also the possibility of account hacking or errors where someone could end up charging their driving to other accounts.

What do you think about tolls? Check out the full press release after the jump for more of the study’s findings, then drop your fellow readers a line in Comments.

[Source: HNTB Corporation | Image: Wikimedia Commons]

Continue reading Study: Americans prefer tolls over fuel taxes… how about you?

Study: Americans prefer tolls over fuel taxes… how about you? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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