Explaining the Vehicle Mileage Tax Pilot Program from the Biden Infrastructure Bill


vehicle mileage tax

Buried in the newest $1 trillion infrastructure package is a program which could bury small businesses.

The proposed Vehicle Mileage Tax will launch as a pilot program for three years beginning in 2022. After three years, Congress will vote on whether to implement it permanently.

What is the Vehicle Mileage Tax?

A vehicle mileage tax is a per-mile fee. The government would be paid a fee for every mile a vehicle is driven. The fee would be paid annually, based on the total miles a vehicle was driven.

Although no “per mile” fee amount has been defined, early estimates are about .08 per mile. A fee would vary with the lowest fee paid by drivers of passenger cars and the highest paid by drivers of heavy trucks.

A per-mile fee would greatly impact all small businesses, which are impacted by rising costs in the supply chain, such as shipping and delivery costs.

Such a fee would be levied on all vehicles, including those driven for pleasure or business. It would especially impact businesses operating in rural areas.

About the Vehicle Mileage Tax Pilot Program

Within the $1 trillion infrastructure package, $125 million is earmarked to fund the pilot program for 2022-2026.

The $125 million breaks down like this:

  • $50 million for a national program ($10 million a year)
  • $75 million for state and local programs.

As stated in the infrastructure package, the vehicle mileage tax pilot program has two purposes:

  • To test the feasibility of a per-mile road usage fee
  • To raise public awareness about transportation alternatives

How Will the Vehicle Mileage Tax Pilot Program Work?

During the first three years of the vehicle mileage tax pilot program, volunteers representing all 50 states will participate.

Both passenger and commercial driver volunteers will be used. How volunteers will be chosen is not stated in the infrastructure bill.

Three years into the program, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen are to provide recommendations to Congress. At that time Congress could choose to pass new legislation to implement a fee.

Congress would establish a per mile user fee on an annual basis. The fee would vary among passenger vehicles, light trucks, medium trucks and heavy trucks.

Congress would also be charged with establishing a means to collect the fee.

Sticking Points

Proponents of the program say it is fair, because both passenger and commercial vehicles would pay – including electric vehicles.

But how will mileage be reported? Every vehicle would need a tracking device, or a method to have its mileage verified.

Methods suggested in the Infrastructure Bill include:

  • Using GPS and other onboard device data from vehicles
  • Using Smart Phone Apps
  • Using motor vehicle data collected by car insurance companies
  • Any other method deemed appropriate

What Can Small Business Owners Do About the Vehicle Mileage Tax?

Although a vote won’t occur for three years, let your opinion be known by members of Congress and various media channels.

Image: Depositphotos

21 Comments ▼

Lisa Price Lisa Price is a freelance writer living in Barnesville, Pennsylvania. She has a B.A. in English with a minor in journalism from Shippensburg State College (Pennsylvania). She has worked as a trucking company dock supervisor, newspaper circulation district manager, radio station commercial writer, assistant manager of a veterinary pharmaceutical warehouse and newspaper reporter.

21 Reactions
  1. Jeremy Standiford

    This is an absolutely insane invasion of privacy at the very least. I hope this fails miserably because its totally miserable.

  2. We already pay fuel tax which is to go toward roads and repairs. This is a tax that extends additional taxes placed on people that have their own transportation. Say NO to more Givernment regulations.

    • We already get taxed before we get our check, we are taxes on EVERYTHING we buy, we pay tax on gas, and then taxes at the end of the year!!! Wtf is wrong with this government taking more an more money. All of my money barely covers a car, rent and a phone. This is bullshit.

  3. Willard Piepenbrok

    Before I pay a per mile tax I will get rid of my auto and go no where , also I will let the government pay me to do nothing like it already does for all the a- holes that don’t work now,. This will hurt everyone,. People won’t go on vacation, they won’t go visiting family,. What does this stupid government think there doing,. Such a shame, they are all a bunch of fools!

  4. That is a bulls hit tax here in CA we pay so much to the dmv already to drive. And what about people that can’t afford it they just can’t drive.. talk about hurting our economy that will do that for sure people just won’t drive as much and they won’t travel. We really need Trump back in office . Biden is an idiot

  5. Thanks for sharing such an informative blog. The good thing is you have described the things very openly in short.

  6. There going to waste 1 trillion dollars on this, wow more proof the county is ran by people who have no clue, and to sneak in under cover of darkness show another bad quality in this bill. Snakes in the grass comes to mind,

  7. Not only do we already pay fuel tax every time we buy fuel, but tractor trailers pay a heavy vehicle use tax yearly. Plus yearly excise tax.

  8. I don’t think too many illegals will be paying this tax. Since most don’t buy insurance and pay gas with cash, they won’t be reporting any mileage. Maybe the only ones driving around will be wealthy people and illegals?

    I do not see this getting passed.

  9. The working poor won’t be able to afford to go to work. States that rely on people vacationing will be hurt. People will end up in jail because they can’t afford to pay the new tax. Time to vote these idiots out of office.

  10. This is absolutely bullshit on the part of this administration. They said no new taxes, but here we go again. And they wonder how Trump became President? This will destroy any Democrat who votes for this.

  11. This is the dumbest thing I have heard! We pay excise tax a few times a year, registration every other year and a sticker renewal each year. Most of us have to pay the irs at tax time also. How the hell can we afford to work and live with this unnecessary fee? This better not pass or most of us will have no choice but to look for new jobs!

  12. None of your business

    Absolutely DISGUSTING!!!!!! A complete invasion of privacy AND we are already taxed a lot to drive! Perhaps the government should stop burning through our money! Perhaps the government should stop giving billions of dollars to other countries! The only way this will NOT happen is if everyone REFUSES to put a tracker on their vehicles! JUST SAY NO!!!!!!!!! WE NEED TO STAND UP TO THE GOVERNMENT!!!!!!!!

  13. Our corrupt and incompetent millionaire politicians will waste the taxes on their own agenda. Before the govt. tracks my mileage ( car ), I’d leave the country or stop driving. Americans allow this being they’re so apathetic. P.S. Does Wall St. and their lobbyists need another foreign war to send working class children to fight- wars, taxes, means for the rich to get richer.

  14. Seems that it’s nothing more than a tax on Fuel – makes no sense to add this tax when all that is needed to accomplish the same thing is to increase the Fuel Tax. Probably this is one of the items that can be cut away from the Bill to make it more palatable. Probably that was the goal at the outset.

  15. Why don’t they print the constitution on toilet paper with heavy metals ink and monopolize it! Everyone needs toilet paper 🙄

  16. Current gas taxes work out to about 1.9 cents per mile (assuming 30mpg in my state). 8 cents represents a over a 400% increase in taxes plus all the overhead of monitoring and collecting the taxes. I’m also willing to bet the existing gas taxes won’t go away so it’s really a 500% tax increase.

  17. Why don’t the rich get off their asses and start contributing! The middle class get screwed over and over again. Good luck passing this bill. I too will not go anywhere either Enough is Enough!

    We already pay excise taxes for our roads, what more do they want, Blood!

  18. I see alot or unregistered vehicles on the road. Myself included. Charging people to drive, and tracking it? Corruption is only a few years away. Freedom is only a generation away.

  19. Cut their pay, take away all of their benefits, let them live like the rest of the world.
    When is that going to be up for a vote

  20. Brought to you by the big city folks who want rural people who produce their food, energy and everything else to pay for their boondoggle high speed rail and all their other stuff. If you live in a high rise and take public transportation everywhere then it’s no money out of your pocket. Meanwhile if I want to visit the tiny little zoo nearest me it’s a 400+ mile round trip, same for the nearest Red Lobster. This country is beginning to resemble the dystopian world of the Hunger Games.