Two things are sure in life: death and taxes. Both are inevitable, and neither is any fun to think about. Great, this is going to be a conversation about taxes—say, what’s that new Netflix show about? Keep reading. You can find out later.
I usually don’t credit the government with forward-thinking, but Colorado’s delivery tax is an exception. What?! A new tax is a good thing? I’m not here to argue either way, but here’s what they were thinking, as written in their bill.
Gas taxes "fuel" road maintenance. Over the years, cars have become significantly more efficient. More efficiency means less gas tax revenue. Additionally, when Colorado introduced fuel taxes, they didn’t put clauses in the law to account for inflation. Road maintenance costs have increased, but revenue for this is decreasing.
The massive push for electric cars and increasing fuel prices have exacerbated the revenue gap. Thus, Colorado introduces the delivery tax. We will see many more states implement this in short order. However, most of the income for this is to be spent on clean energy, not highways. Either way, this idea is here to stay and grow.