# Credit Card fees per transaction--what about debit card transactions? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2023, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-fees-per-transaction-what-about-debit-card-transactions/991256 "2023-10-07T22:31:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-fees-per-transaction-what-about-debit-card-transactions/991256/81 "2023-11-05T16:15:59Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > HMRC are sometimes seen in motorway service areas dipping fuel tanks. I’m not sure exactly what tax breaks are applicable for farm use diesel in each jurisdiction, but total taxation for road-going vehicle fuel is dramatically higher in the UK at around 100%, compared to about 10% in the US. So probably much more incentive to cheat in the UK, and much more incentive for HMRC to catch cheats. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-fees-per-transaction-what-about-debit-card-transactions/991256/82 "2023-11-05T16:21:05Z")
“Red” diesel is currently around 85p per litre, while road-going “white” diesel is more than twice that. A farmer would also pay VAT on that price, but that can probably be offset. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-fees-per-transaction-what-about-debit-card-transactions/991256/83 "2023-11-05T21:38:34Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But that doesn’t prevent cheating since there’s nobody out patrolling the roads and pulling folks over to look in their fuel tanks. The IRS has agents who work at truck stops in ag areas who do exactly that. > **[4.24.13 Overview of Excise Fuel Compliance Program | Internal Revenue Service](https://www.irs.gov/irm/part4/irm_04-024-013)** > > 4.24.13  Overview of Excise Fuel Compliance Program 4.24.13.1  Program Scope and Objectives 4.24.13.1.1  Background 4.24.13.1.2  ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2023, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-fees-per-transaction-what-about-debit-card-transactions/991256/84 "2023-11-05T22:19:13Z")
Cool. When I lived rural adjacent many folks said, “Yeah, there’s an enforcement program but it’s been 20 years since any of us have seen an agent.” Was that bravado, stupidity, local reality, or good luck? Hard to say. I’d hope this stuff, like all taxation, was enforced hard enough to discourage most cheating. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-fees-per-transaction-what-about-debit-card-transactions/991256/85 "2023-11-06T00:15:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Was that bravado, stupidity, local reality, or good luck? Hard to say. Could be, “Valid empirical observation”. Due to budget cuts, IRS activity fell off a cliff last decade. Chart shows declines in percentage of high income returns audited as an example. [![](https://jabberwocking.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/blog_irs_returns_audited.jpg) ](https://jabberwocking.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/blog_irs_returns_audited.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-fees-per-transaction-what-about-debit-card-transactions/991256/86 "2023-11-06T13:49:42Z")
Yes, gasoline for on-farm use was free of a number of taxes, and I have friends who grew up in rural Canada back in the day, who described when younger being pulled over regularly to check for “purple gas”. Also, that some of these yahoo twenty-year-olds would do things like drive into a farmer’s yard late at night, and if the filler hose was locked, hammer a hole in their gas tanks (usually elevated so they didn’t need to pump to fill vehicles) and when they’d caught enough gas, hammer a plug of wood into the hole. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-fees-per-transaction-what-about-debit-card-transactions/991256/87 "2023-11-06T17:25:35Z")
When I got rid of the oil tank in my old house and switched to electricity, there was a local organization I participated in that was happy to take tank and remaining contents. They used deisel equipment on private property, but the fellow mentioned the revenue people would be “unhappy” if they saw that home heating oil was being used for vehicles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-fees-per-transaction-what-about-debit-card-transactions/991256.md?page=4)