FULL PICTURE NEEDED FOR NY GAS TAX

I read with interest and confusion, your February 1998 article in the State and Local Taxation section regarding states' gasoline and cigarette taxes. I find it very confusing and quite misleading to infer that New York's taxes on gasoline are lower than its neighbors New Jersey, Vermont, and Pennsylvania. Granted the NYS excise tax is $.08 per gallon; you fail to mention the $.146 gross receipts tax, the $.05 NYS sales tax, a quite insignificant $.0005 motor fuel testing fee, and, in most NYS localities, a county sales tax. I travel quite regularly in Pennsylvania and Vermont (not so regularly in New Jersey), and I can't wait to hit the border in any of those states to fill up. I think a clearer presentation would have included all taxes levied on gasoline in each of the states.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. As an industry member, I enjoy keeping current through reading The CPA Journal. *

Dana R. Pickup