If you are like me, you have had no choice but to listen to the recent discussions regarding the balanced budget and the debt ceiling. Every news flash or top headline seems to include information about their discussions, the adverse effects of no agreement, or the bickering back and forth between the parties.   It is easy to understand that the US government, like many people, has a little problem with managing money.   

Last year, the IRS collected over $850,000,000 from 2290s for the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax on semi-trucks. This is a tax for the use of vehicles over 56,000 pounds on public roads put back into the road programs to help keep them in decent driving shape.  For a truck licensed to operate at 80,000 pounds, this tax equates to $550.00 due on August 31^st each year.  But here is the surprise, the Heavy Vehicle Use Tax is set to expire on 9/30! 

Now with all excitement about money, you would expect that the program would be re-instated right away so they can keep that money rolling in, right?   RIGHT???  Nope, Congress has instead delayed the due date for the program until November 30^th.  In fact, they don't even want the return filed until at least November 1^st, so people don't "accidentally file twice".  Rather than cut costs or increase revenues short term, which seems would make sense with recent budget discussions, revenues have been decreased.  I don't have a financial degree, but this doesn't seem to make a lot of sense.

Long term however, this may mean something very much different to the truck driver.  Without an immediate re-certification of the program, one could deduce that changes are in the works.   Most likely would be an increase in this tax, a painful blow to the independent trucker who already has found it difficult to survive in past years due to skyrocketing fuel prices. 

It also seems rather reminiscent of the Single State Program from years ago.  That program was discontinued at the state level to allow the federal government to streamline the process.  The result was two years without a program at all.  And once instituted, the program reduced the cost to the company by about 75%, and has been since increased several times since then, a clear indication that after two years, there still wasn't a good understanding of what the ultimate goal was. 

With these thoughts in mind, although a person might believe this delay is a good thing for the trucker, I think it is clear that it will not be a benefit the trucker, the taxpayer, or the government in the long run.