# CA & The MVA Tax! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 18, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415 "2004-11-18T03:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415/1 "2004-11-18T03:55:31Z")
Did you hear the head of the Motor Vehicle Administration wants to tax cars by the mile? He claims it would replace the gas tax. Look, moron…did you fail math? They’d be equal because you buy gas by the gallon which is consumed by the mile! Ok, let’s all sing now: “Big Brother, here we come! Way back where we started from! Rake me over that golden grate (sic), Big Brother here we come!” - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![WorkinLate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@WorkinLate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WorkinLate)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415/2 "2004-11-18T04:16:16Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > Did you hear the head of the Motor Vehicle Administration wants to tax cars by the mile? He claims it would replace the gas tax. Look, moron…did you fail math? They’d be equal because you buy gas by the gallon which is consumed by the mile! > > Ok, let’s all sing now: “Big Brother, here we come! Way back where we started from! Rake me over that golden grate (sic), Big Brother here we come!” - Jinx I heard about this on the radio. It sounds like the latest bright idea from the new head of the DMV. Everyone who called into the show had a very negative feel about the idea. I don’t think it’s going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Josh\_dePlume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Josh\_dePlume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Josh_dePlume)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415/3 "2004-11-18T04:19:33Z")
And the factual question here is…? ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415/4 "2004-11-18T05:00:17Z")
An SUV uses a lot more gas to travel the same number of miles. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415/5 "2004-11-18T05:02:18Z")
> [@Josh\_dePlume](#): > > And the factual question here is…? The one I always used to ask myself was “How many more times do I gotta look at this crap before I ban him?” Unfortunately, I never came up with an answer. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415/6 "2004-11-18T05:10:54Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > Did you hear the head of the Motor Vehicle Administration wants to tax cars by the mile? He claims it would replace the gas tax. Look, moron…did you fail math? They’d be equal because you buy gas by the gallon which is consumed by the mile! Math is no use without logic. The two taxes would _not_ be equal, because not all vehicles consume gas at the same rate per mile travelled. Relative to the existing petrol tax, a milage tax would tend to favour larger vehicles (including buses, trucks, etc) and to bear more heavily on smaller, lighter vehicles. and of course it would benefit the users of petrol-driven engines which don’t power road vehicles - lawnmowers, power boats, etc. ---
**Author:** ![micco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415/7 "2004-11-18T14:03:15Z")
> [@Jinx](#): > > Look, moron…did you fail math? They’d be equal because you buy gas by the gallon which is consumed by the mile! The point is that California is seeing their revenue from the gas tax decrease steadily as people buy more fuel efficient vehicles. There just aren’t enough Hummers to make up for all those Prius drivers. They can do the math, and the revenue doesn’t add up to enough to maintain the roads so they have to raise more tax somewhere. I’m not saying it’s a good idea, just saying that they know their math quite well when it comes to padding the coffers. [http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2004/08/19/sections/news/news/article\_208035](http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2004/08/19/sections/news/news/article_208035) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415/8 "2004-11-18T14:10:55Z")
[GD thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287170). ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415/9 "2004-11-18T14:31:42Z")
> [@micco](#): > > The point is that California is seeing their revenue from the gas tax decrease steadily as people buy more fuel efficient vehicles. There just aren’t enough Hummers to make up for all those Prius drivers. They can do the math, and the revenue doesn’t add up to enough to maintain the roads so they have to raise more tax somewhere. I’m not saying it’s a good idea, just saying that they know their math quite well when it comes to padding the coffers. > > [http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2004/08/19/sections/news/news/article\_208035](http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2004/08/19/sections/news/news/article_208035) I thought that the point was to try and reduce urban sprawl. I’m not sure that’s the way to do it, but that would be part of the GD thread. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415/10 "2004-11-18T14:37:22Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > I thought that the point was to try and reduce urban sprawl. I’m not sure that’s the way to do it, but that would be part of the GD thread. D’oh, that would be suburban, not urban, sprawl. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2004, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ca-the-mva-tax/275415/11 "2004-11-18T14:41:00Z")
> [@SmackFu](#): > > An SUV uses a lot more gas to travel the same number of miles. Yes, it’s a windfall to those who drive gas-guzzling behemoths. To those who commute long distances in small cars, the opposite.