Putting a Tax on Oil

We investigate the possibility of using a percentage tax on crude oil and imported refined oil products consumed in the United States to fund the nation’s transportation infrastructure. This tax on oil could replace existing gasoline and diesel taxes and, potentially, other transportation taxes, such as taxes on airline tickets. The revenues from this tax could be used to fully fund federal infrastructure expenditures on highways, public transit, and aviation. The goal of this article is to raise the key issues associated with using an oil tax to fund U.S. transportation infrastructure, identify decisions Congress would need to make in designing such a tax, and outline some of the likely implications of adopting such a tax.