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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: J_F_Shepard who wrote (613113)	5/26/2011 2:05:16 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1575798

"fuel that is taxed at both the state and federal levels" That tax is not paid by the oil companies.... It is to about the same extent corporate income tax on oil companies is, or payroll taxes (either the "employee share" or the "employer share"). Corporations don't really pay taxes, they pass them along. It may be the customers who take the biggest hit, it may be the employees, it may be the shareholders. The first two possibilities are more likely than the third one (and even if the shareholders do take the hit, then your discouraging investment in the industry which hits the customers and/or employees in the long run). Taxes reduce demand. If the taxes didn't exist, then the oil companies could sell the same amount of refined oil products at the current after tax prices, as their pre-tax price and make more money. They might instead choose to sell more at a somewhat lower end price, or make some other change. Whether the customers take the hit or not depends on the shifting elasticities of supply and demand, just as whether customers take the hit for corporate income tax, or payroll taxes, but even if customers (or independent gas stations if the gasoline is sold in one) take the main hit its almost certain there is some reduction in corporate profits from the tax. To the extent corporations can ever be said to be paying the tax they are paying part of it. , electric cars don't use oil Not really true, but they do use a lot less. They don't burn oil based products as fuel. They do however use roads. Gasoline taxes fund road construction and maintenance (to the extent any tax can be said to fund just one area when money is fungible) The owners of electric cars don't pay the taxes the gasoline powered cars owner's pay so the electric cars are effectively subsidized.