For over two decades, the federal fuel tax has held at 18.4 cents for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel per gallon sold. A bipartisan bill working through the United States Senate could soon change this, especially as the nation's Highway Trust Fund — used for funding infrastructure projects — comes closer to running dry by August of this year.
Reuters reports Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Chris Murphy of Connecticut want to raise both taxes by 12 cents, which would be spread out over two years prior to linking future increases to inflation. The senators also proposed tax cuts to make up for the increase, though nothing was specified at the time.
Meanwhile, some legislators want to fund the trust through a corporate offshore profit tax repatriation holiday that would resemble a 2004 proposal led by former president George W. Bush: 12 months, 85 percent deduction for dividends paid. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the holiday would bring in $20 billion during the period, but would lead to expectations for more holidays down the road.
President Barack Obama opposes this method, believing "it would give large tax breaks to a very small number of companies that have most aggressively shifted profits, and in many cases, jobs, overseas," according to White House representative Jay Carney.
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