The trucking industry pays more than its fair share for the highway infrastructure it uses through federal and provincial taxes, commercial vehicle license fees, special weight and dimension permit fees and other fees and taxes. Only a portion of the taxes the trucking industry - and all motorists for that matter — pay to all levels of government find their way back into road infrastructure. No portion of federal and provincial fuel taxes are dedicated to road funding. All tax revenues flow to general revenues.
In the Lower Mainland and in Victoria, trucking companies pay an extra sic cents and two cents respectively in addition to provincial and federal fuel taxes. This money is directed to investments in public transit. Finally, trucking companies also pay municipal taxes, some of which are directed to local road improvements.
The federal and provincial governments collect more than $8 billion in road taxes but put only $5 billion back into the infrastructure. Government taxation policies — particularly those that relate to the taxation of fuel, sales tax on equipment, capital consumption allowances for equipment, vehicle registration fees, etc. — have taxed away much of the productivity and efficiency gains made by the industry. It can even be argued that by taxing the investment in new equipment, vehicles and insurance (manufacturing, agriculture and other sectors generally do not pay tax on business inputs) governments are taxing safety and environmental stewardship.
- A typical tractor-trailer raises about $40,000 a year in federal/provincial taxes and fees.
- Truck taxes equal 8% of revenue; manufacturing 5% and insurance less than 2%.
- About half of the U.S. states do not assess any sales tax on tractors and trailers. U.S. depreciation rates allow tractors to be almost fully written off in 3 years and trailers in 5 years. In Canada it takes 6 years and 7 years, respectively.
Typical annual taxes paid for a 5-axle tractor/trailer unit in B.C. are:
| Tractor: Annual sales tax amortized over 5 year operating life | $2,250
|
| Trailer: Annual sales tax amortized over 10 year operating life | $469 |
| Fuel Consumption: | |
|
$9,672 |
|
$3,357 |
|
$5,455 |
| Maintenance: Provincial sales tax | $1,000 |
| Licensing | |
|
$2,800 |
|
$50 |
| Driver: | |
|
$10,762 |
|
$4,301 |
| Corporate Income Tax | |
|
$2,489 |
|
$1,856 |
| Property Tax | |
|
$650 |
|
$16,608 |
|
$28,543 |
| Total Direct Taxes Paid per Year | $45,151 |
Other taxes not included here are Coquihalla tolls, U.S. taxes, and environmental levies (air condition, paint, tire).