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Berk Brown posted on 1/28/2010 1:13:00 PM
Your point is very valid Uncle Wiggily. I went back and forth on whether or not to include the federal or not for basically the reason to explain.
Right or wrong I chose to go the way I did because I wanted to make sure readers understood exactly how much went for taxes in general. It can somewhat be apples-to-oranges to sales tax in general - I agree with you and in hindsight I should have done a better job explaining that in the text of the writing.
I always appreciate your thoughts UW.
Uncle Wiggily posted on 1/23/2010 9:47:00 AM
Hi Berk, and thanks for your quick response.
I appreciate the good work you and PI continue to perform. Your reports on Nebraska economic matters are among the most well-researched and objective available in my opinion.
Having said that, I have one tiny quibble with your gasoline tax article. You state that the taxes paid on a gallon of gas represents a "19.8%" tax which is indeed true (0.46/2.32 = 19.8%). You further state that the 19.8% is "a much higher amount than the normal sales tax or other so-called sin taxes", which is also true ... except ... the $0.46 includes federal as well as state tax; wouldn't it be more intellectually honest to exclude the federal tax, so that, when comparing Nebraska gasoline taxes to "other sales tax rates" we would be comparing apples to apples? The percentage would then be something around 12%, a rate still higher than other sales taxes, so your point is still valid ... though perhaps a bit less emphatic.
Admittedly, a trifling point ... but it bothered me.
Keep up the good work.
Berk Brown posted on 1/22/2010 9:44:00 PM
Thanks for your question Uncle Wiggily - good to hear from you and hope all is well with you.
The figure of 46 cents per gallon takes into account the federal excise taxes 18.4 cpg - in addition to Nebraska's rate of 27.3 in July of 2009.
Uncle Wiggily posted on 1/22/2010 11:51:00 AM
Interesting article - I'm curious as to how you arrived at your figure of 46 cents per gallon that Nebraskans pay in taxes on gasoline. I'm not arguing with it - I'd just like to know how you came up with it. Could you elucidate?
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