Def tax
 

How long before the government figures out they can slap a tax on Diesel Exhaust Fluid?
I am surprised it hasn't happened already.

We can't name all the taxes we pay already. Why not dump another one on our dumb arses.

regards
mech

Shhhh. The NSA is listening. Don't give them any ideas.

It would be typical though. Hey, you guys. You gotta use this stuff to pass what we say your emissions should be. And oh, by the way, here's a tax on it too.

Tax that piss!


Think of it as a "post" tax on BEER (wink,wink)!

Fuel tax vs sales tax.
 

Fuel taxes include sales taxes. Then local, state and federal taxes are dumped on top of that. It is a unique commodity that has such strategic and widespread importance that it is taxed accordingly.

Diesel emission fluid (DEF) is an additive. It is taxed via common sales tax. You could not tax it as a fuel because it isn't. If the government decided to tax it at a rate commensurate with fuel, many other products would be open to such taxation. The uproar from lubricant, belt and tire manufacturers as well as the air freshener tree hanging from your mirror , just to name a few, would be tremendous.

This doesn't mean they won't tax it. It just means they may have a fight on their hands from a much larger group of people than they expected.

The volume of DEF sold is quite small in comparison to the over all volume of fuel. The Federal Government may not see it worth the fight.

I can say this much, if they do tax DEF to the same level as fuel there will be a large illegal market for the stuff. It isn't anything special. DEF labs will pop up in various out of the way places and designer DEF will be sold via secret hand signs and hidden in large Monster Energy Drink containers.

Sales tax is whatever percent of the sale.
I was thinking more along the lines of the 20 to 25 cents per gallon state and federal tax like is done with fuel.
At roughly $1.50 per gallon the sales tax is typically less than 15 cents per gallon.

DEF is 33% by weight urea, the rest water if what I read was correct.
It wouldn't exactly take a criminal master mind to produce home brew DEF.

Hardly. The whole point of fuel taxes is that they're supposed to pay for the roads you drive on.

Isn't fuel subsidized?

I'd be a little surprised if this took root. The only reason DEF exists is because of emissions. Tax it and people are either going to make it themselves (either correctly or in some way that fools the sensors) or remove the system.

Not everyone of course, but enough that I think taxing it would be counterproductive.

The problem with homebrewed DEF is due to the usage of agricultural urea (more readily available than industrial urea) and non-demineralized water.