North Carolina fines driver for not paying taxes on vegetable-oil fuel

Progress Doesn't Pay

A kerfuffle in North Carolina shows what might be in store for users of DIY fuel: the state fined a veggie-oil-burning driver $1,000 for not paying fuel taxes, told him to expect a $1,000 fine from the feds, and informed him that he'd have to post a $2,500 bond to be allowed to use veggie oil. "With the high cost of fuel right now, the [Department of Revenue] does recognize that a lot of people are looking for relief," says state taxman Reggie Little. "We're not here to hurt the small guy, we're just trying to make sure that the playing field is level." And by "make sure that the playing field is level," we're pretty sure he means make sure home-brewers still pay into the $1.2 billion in annual revenue the state gets from fuel taxes. "If somebody was going to go to this much trouble to drive around in a car that uses soybean oil, they ought to be exempt" from such taxes, said a state senator and fellow fry-oil fan. Other states are facing similar dilemmas. Welcome to our brave new world.

straight to the source: The Charlotte Observer, Bruce Henderson, 09 Jun 2007

see also, in Grist: Ask Umbra on biodiesel vs. straight vegetable oil

see also, in Grist: A special series on biofuels

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Comments: (2 comments)

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Evilness in action

Wow! That's just plain evil! Evil! Evil! I have no other words for it!

by globalbee at 10:03 AM on 12 Jun 2007

Taxes should help those who produce

Ok. I understand the need for fuel tax. But if a farmer grows his own crop, does the necessary processing to get it to the ready-for-fuel stage, and then uses all of it to fuel the machines that grow the corn to make fuel for others, is he not performing a service for which he can claim tax exemptions? And if he is buying the fuel from someone else, should that producer not be the one to benefit directly from taxes levied to support his ability to provide a valuable resource for others? In other words, if we could balance the number of producers with the number of users such that our energy costs are absorbed in the process of making more energy available for others, wouldn't we be producing more power than we're using? So shouldn't we all (as consumers) be looking at ways to produce?

Debbie A. Roberts, Owner

by debroberts54 at 10:03 PM on 12 Jun 2007

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