Surpise! Some Electric Car Owners Face New Tax

This really shouldn’t shock anyone at all. Looks like Washington State has figured out a way to get into the pockets of citizens who don’t pay gas taxes because they own fully electric cars. From SFGate:

Owners of electric cars in Washington state don’t pay gasoline or gas taxes, but they’re soon going to be hit with a $100 fee to own the battery-operated cars.

A section of Washington state law that takes effect next year will require electric car owners to pay a $100 annual fee for road and highway improvements intended to compensate for the lack of gas taxes they pay.

The law does not apply to hybrid vehicles or to those that don’t exceed 35 mph. About 1,600 cars currently registered in the state would likely be subject to the fee, including the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Roadster and some custom electric vehicles, according to the state licensing department. Hybrid vehicles that use electricity and gasoline, such as the Toyota Prius and Chevrolet Volt, are excluded.

Starting Feb. 1, 2013, electric-car owners must pay the fee at the time of their annual vehicle registration renewal. The fee would be in addition to standard vehicle registration fees owed each year.

What? So tons of tax breaks are handed out at both the state & federal level to get people to buy these vehicles and then they decide to create a new tax they can levy on those who decided to own them? LOL!

Suckers.