Infrastructure plan does not include a per-mile driving tax

A viral photo of a graphic aired by the conservative website and cable network Newsmax falsely states that the infrastructure bill supported by President Joe Biden includes a per-mile driving tax as a hidden cost. But that’s not true: The bill includes a provision that creates a volunteer pilot program to study the viability of a per-mile tax. Let’s take a look at the facts.

The $1 trillion infrastructure bill before Congress does not include a per-mile driving tax.

It proposes a volunteeer pilot program to evaluate the viability of a per-mile driving tax — a possible replacement for the current gasoline tax.

This is not a new idea.

States have also been piloting similar programs to replace gas taxes to adjust for the growing number of electric vehicles.

NewsLit takeaway

Photos of text and graphics generally make it difficult to verify claims and should always be approached with skepticism. In this case, the photo shows one on-air graphic from a Newsmax broadcast but provides no link to the full segment or, more importantly, to the legislation itself. It is not clear what the openly partisan Newsmax network reported about the infrastructure bill during this particular broadcast, but other Newsmax reports have made it clear that “the pilot itself does not institute a tax.”

Featured Fact-Checks

“Biden infrastructure plan wouldn’t establish a per-mile driving tax” (Noah Y. Kim, PolitiFact).
“Mileage tax study, not actual mileage tax, proposed in infrastructure bill” (Angelo Fichera, The Associated Press).
“Per-mile fee would be tested, but no proof plan is aimed at making cars obsolete” (Tom Kertscher, PolitiFact).