National Academies Press: OpenBook

Costs of Alternative Revenue-Generation Systems (2011)

Chapter: Appendix B - Survey Questionnaire for Collecting Fuel-Tax Related Cost Data

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Survey Questionnaire for Collecting Fuel-Tax Related Cost Data." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Costs of Alternative Revenue-Generation Systems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14532.
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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Survey Questionnaire for Collecting Fuel-Tax Related Cost Data." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Costs of Alternative Revenue-Generation Systems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14532.
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Page 119
Page 120
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B - Survey Questionnaire for Collecting Fuel-Tax Related Cost Data." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2011. Costs of Alternative Revenue-Generation Systems. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/14532.
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Page 120

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118 In this appendix we present the questionnaire designed and used for collecting detailed cost data from state motor fuel tax systems. B.1 Background and Purpose This questionnaire and the compilation of the survey results are an important part of the study designed to esti- mate the costs associated with alternative revenue-generation systems (e.g., motor fuel taxes, VMT fees, and tolling). All the research conducted falls under NCHRP Project 19-08, “Costs of Alternative Revenue-Generation Systems.” The purpose of this study was to develop a methodology that can be used to analyze and compare the administrative, collec- tion, and compliance costs of highway revenue-generation systems. This survey focuses entirely on the costs of motor fuel tax administration. Part I of the survey covers background information. Part II of the survey is designed to obtain summary cost data for states that already possess detailed administrative cost information. Part III of the survey is designed to extract the information necessary to construct an estimate of administrative costs. Part IV includes con- tact information. B.2 Specific Survey Questions Part I Background Information (a) What agency in your state is responsible for collecting motor fuel taxes? _____________________________________________ (b) What agency in your state is responsible for auditing motor fuel taxpayers? _____________________________________________ (c) What agency in your state is responsible for enforcement of the motor fuel tax code? _____________________________________________ (d) Please provide contact information for the person responding to this questionnaire. Name: Telephone: E-mail address: (e) At what point in the distribution system does your state tax gasoline and diesel (e.g., rack, distributor, retail)? _____________________________________________ Part II Summary Administrative Cost Data (f) Does your state have a dedicated budget for motor fuel tax collection, auditing, and enforcement or has it constructed an estimate of the costs of administering motor fuel taxes? □ Yes Please continue with question (g) □ No Please skim the questions that follow in this section and move ahead to Part III of this survey. (g) Please provide the annual motor fuel tax administrative (i.e., auditing, enforcement, collection) budget or esti- mated administration costs for 2004 to 2008: (h) Please allocate the costs identified in (g) according to the categories outlined below for each year. If you are unable to disaggregate total costs into these subcategories, skip question (h) and go to Part III. 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 A P P E N D I X B Survey Questionnaire for Collecting Fuel-Tax–Related Cost Data

119 Please note if items outlined in Part III are not included in the above estimates. Attempt to provide estimates of those cost elements in Part III or in a separate statement attached to the completed questionnaire. Part III Questions Related to Tax Administration, Enforcement, and Collections Auditing Costs (i) How many full-time equivalent (FTE) positions are used to support motor fuel tax auditing efforts, including those related to distributor, IFTA, and refund audits? If your auditors conduct audits for several tax systems, attempt to estimate the proportion of auditing time spent on audits related to motor fuel taxes and allocate a proportionate share of FTEs accordingly. _____________________________________________ (j) What are the annual costs associated with licensing audi- tors to conduct IFTA audits? _____________________________________________ (k) What is the average annual salary plus benefits paid to staff in your state conducting motor fuel tax audits? _____________________________________________ (l) Has your state been involved in joint audits with other states or the IRS? If so, what costs have been incurred while conducting these audits? _____________________________________________ (m) What is the revenue impact, or return on investment, associated with your auditing activities? _____________________________________________ (n) Other than costs identified previously in this section, please estimate the indirect costs associated with auditing activi- ties (e.g., rent, utilities, training), materials/supplies, and indirect personal services costs (e.g., office support, man- agement, HR services, information services, and other ser- vices and supplies). Provide as much detail as possible. _____________________________________________ Enforcement Costs (o) Does your state employ a motor-fuel tracking system? If so, when was it placed into operation, what was the cap- ital cost of the system, and what is the annual cost to operate and maintain the system? _____________________________________________ (p) Does your state perform on-road inspections for dyed fuel? If so, what are the annual costs associated with your Capital Costs 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 Physical equipment Operational equipment Facility Variable Costs Administration Labor Equipment O&M Hardware and software maintenance Materials Collection Account management Materials Communication Compliance Labor Materials

on-road dyed-fuel inspection program? If unknown, please estimate the FTEs dedicated to conducting on- road dyed fuel inspections and provide an estimate of the annual salaries plus benefits paid to these enforcement/ inspections officers. _____________________________________________ (q) Does your state require licensing and bonding of all motor fuel tax distributors? If so, what are the annual costs to the state of processing these licenses/bonds and conducting any screening of applicants? _____________________________________________ (r) Does your state perform taxpayer education activities (i.e., outreach activities to inform taxpayers of changes to forms or tax codes)? If so, what are the annual costs asso- ciated with these activities? _____________________________________________ (s) Other than costs identified previously in this section, please estimate the indirect costs associated with enforce- ment activities (e.g., rent, utilities, training), materials/ supplies, and indirect person services costs (e.g., office sup- port, management, HR services, information services, and other services and supplies). _____________________________________________ Collection Costs (t) Does your state use paper, electronic methods, or a combination to process tax returns and receive tax payments? _____________________________________________ (u) If your state has an electronic system in place, what was the capital cost of the electronic system? What are its annual operations and maintenance costs? _____________________________________________ (v) If your state has an electronic system for receiving tax payments, are there transaction costs associated with processing these payments? If so, what are these costs? _____________________________________________ (w) If your state processes tax returns and payments manually, what are the costs associated with manually entering tax- payer data? If these costs are unknown, how many FTEs are dedicated to this activity and what is the average salary plus benefits for individuals processing these returns? _____________________________________________ (x) Does your state provide any sort of collection allowance in the form of a credit to taxpayers remitting taxes? If so, how much is the collection allowance as expressed as a percentage of total tax payments? _____________________________________________ (y) Does your state employ debt collectors who notify tax- payers of delinquencies and work to secure past-due pay- ments? If so, what are the annual costs associated with these debt-collection activities? _____________________________________________ (z) Other than costs identified previously in this section, please estimate the indirect costs associated with collec- tion activities (e.g., rent, utilities, training), materials/ supplies, and indirect personal services costs (e.g., office support, management, HR services, information ser- vices, and other services and supplies). _____________________________________________ 120

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TRB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 689: Costs of Alternative Revenue-Generation Systems presents a framework for analysis of the direct costs incurred in generating the revenues that support federal-aid and state highway construction, operations, and maintenance and uses that framework to estimate unit costs for fuel taxes, tolling, vehicle-miles of travel fees, and cordon pricing schemes.

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