[knoxev] Re: Fwd: Electric Vehicles: Road Taxes

From: Gary Bulmer <gpbulmer@xxxxxxxxx>
To: KEVA <knoxev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 12 May 2022 16:44:21 -0400

Thanks Bob!

On Thu, May 12, 2022 at 4:12 PM Bob Harris <
Bob.Harris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

One thing the State conveniently forgets is that they’re already certainly
collecting 7% State sales tax, plus the county and city could possibly get
up to 2.75% local sales tax, on all electricity purchased through a
utility.  Adding the $100 EV Tax is essentially double taxation on several
thousand miles worth of EV fuel annually.  There used to be a separate line
item on our electrical utility bill for sales tax.  I looked at an old bill
and there’s a line for “State Tax” that’s 7% of all our monthly charges.
Although our utility has recently condensed everything into one monthly
charge, I’m sure they’re still collecting and passing that 7% along to the
State.

Although I’m not a tax lawyer, the screenshot below, directly from the
Tennessee Department of Revenue, certainly sounds like everything except
initial service connection fees are subject to 7% State sales tax.  Since
this is from the Sales and Use Tax law, it applies to anything consumed by
a business in their operation as well.  It’s most likely that anyone
operating a public charging station in Tennessee is paying the State 7% on
all the electricity consumed, and we are most certainly paying 7% to
Tennessee on any electricity used to charge our EVs at home.  That 7% is
specifically called out in law to also apply to demand charges.   For DCFC
operators, that could effectively double the tax rate on the electricity
actually put into EVs, and that certainly gets passed along to the EV
driver as well.

I know for a fact that when we operated a string of free public L2 EVSE
locations in Blount and Sevier Counties in Tennessee, we paid the state 7%
sales tax on all the electricity we provided to EV drivers at no cost,
including the minimum monthly amount charged by the utility even if we had
zero electrical consumption at a site for the month.  Even as a tax-exempt
Tennessee 501(c)3 non-profit with a Tennessee sales tax exemption, the
utility would not exempt us from paying the State sales tax on our
electricity.

Bottom line – EV “fuel”  at home is already taxed at a percentage close to
the gasoline tax percentage at today’s gas prices.  For public charging
that factors in demand charges which are also taxed, the percentage is
likely much higher than on gasoline.  That goes for both state residents
and visitors who charge their EVs in Tennessee.  The “invisibility factor”
is that money goes into the State general fund and not directly to DOT for
roads like the gas and Diesel taxes, but overall the State of Tennessee is
making out like a bandit on EV tax revenue.  With no more miles than we put
on our ten year old Nissan LEAF on local roads, the $100 EV Tax is pure
gravy to Tennessee.  The sales tax we pay on the electricity our LEAF
consumes more than pays its way.

                           Bob Harris

              Black Bear Solar Institute

Bob.Harris@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

                         865-919-2274

       [image: TM 300 ppi Bicubic Small JPEG Black Bear Color Black
Border]

      www.BlackBearSolarInstitute.org
<http://www.blackbearsolarinstitute.org/>

             2204 Battle Ground Drive

              Pigeon Forge, TN 37863

*From:* knoxev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:knoxev-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] *On
Behalf Of *Robert Cole
*Sent:* Thursday, May 12, 2022 3:03 PM
*To:* knoxev@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
*Subject:* [knoxev] Fwd: Electric Vehicles: Road Taxes

Mind discussing at KEVA meeting?

Begin forwarded message:

*From:* Becky Massey <sen.becky.massey@capitol.tngov>
*Date:* May 12, 2022 at 10:16:06 EDT
*To:* Robert Cole <rncole@xxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* *RE: Electric Vehicles: Road Taxes*

Hello Robert,

Thank you for reaching out. I want to follow up and provide clarity about
my comments.

We need a fair system in our state that includes Tennesseans and visitors
in our state paying these taxes, rather than just Tennesseans alone.
Currently 40% of toad money comes from out of state visitors, which we do
not want to lose. I will continue to look at ideas that are reasonable and
appropriate for our state and will be attending two conferences this summer
related to electric vehicles and transportation and road usage.

Thank you again for reaching out Please know I will continue to monitor
this issue.

Sincerely,

Becky

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Cole <rncole@xxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2022 9:51 PM
To: Becky Massey <sen.becky.massey@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Electric Vehicles: Road Taxes

Senator Massey,

I understand in your remarks at the Knoxville MPO conference included a
statement regarding electric vehicle owners paying their fair share for
damages caused to roads.

As an EV owner and advocate, this comment concerned me as TN does have a
tax paid during registration renewal ($100) which is equivalent to the
taxes on approximately 365 gallons of gasoline. This would be approximately
the same taxes paid to the state of a 32mpg vehicle driving 12,000 mi per
year.

That said, if you are interested in alternative taxation methodologies -
particularly that consider miles driven - I would be happy to discuss or
learn more about your interest in this topic.

Regards,
Robert Cole

--
Email: gpbulmer@xxxxxxxxx

Gary Bulmer
Cell Phone: 301-706-4093

References:
- [knoxev] Fwd: Electric Vehicles: Road Taxes
  - From: Robert Cole
- [knoxev] Re: Fwd: Electric Vehicles: Road Taxes
  - From: Bob Harris

[knoxev] Re: Fwd: Electric Vehicles: Road Taxes

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