Dana, Can't help you with the tax stuff but your question did raise a related one in my mind at least. How long it will be before the IRS, or Revenue Canada where I live, will start demanding all users of WVO and SVO to report the volumes they consume so they may apply some sort of tax on that consumption?
As home grown biofuel increases in use, especially in Canada where the goverment depends heavily on taxation of fossil fuels at the consumption level, I can't help but wonder how long it will take for them to interpret the phenomonom as a form of tax evasion. Taxation aside, thanks alot for sharing your nicely expressed cost analysis Ted Swarts Kelowna, British Columbia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dana Linscott" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Yahoo Biofuel" <biofuel@yahoogroups.com>; "vegoil" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, December 17, 2001 8:57 PM Subject: [biofuel] SVO Odd road tax issue, Break even point on conversion. > Well, this is interesting. > > I have been calling my state govt. and (US) federal > revenue offices (for the past six months) to see which > forms I would have to file in order to pay "road tax" > on my SVO converted vehicle. I assumed I would owe a > per gallon tax equal to what I pay when I buy gasoline > or diesel fuel for on road use and being the good and > honest citizen I wanted pay these taxes if due. I had > called both offices repeatedly over the summer > beginning when I first converted my truck but the > state revenue office told me they had no form to cover > what I was asking for and asked me to call back in the > fall. When I did they asked me to call back later and > so on. They finally simply said they currently had no > way to "allow" me to pay the taxes I figured I owed. > They further informed me that they probably would not > have anything change in the next year...but I should > call back just to be safe. That was nice. > > The federal internal revenue office dealing with fuel > taxes simply refuses to return any of my calls over > the past six months even though I have left over half > a dozen messages detailing my question of how could I > go about paying the taxes I feel I owe. However when I > call their counterparts in the income tax division > (who DO call me back) I am told only the fuel tax > division can possibly answer my question. <Heavy sigh > here.> > > I use my converted vehicle for business travel and so > the last time I spoke to the federal income tax folks > I asked if I was still entitled to claim the 35 cents > per mile deduction on my income tax for business > related travel. The answer was YES! > I wonder if there are any tax exemptions/deductions > for using SVO (since it is a renewable resource) or > WVO (since it is also a recycled material). Does > anyone have any information on this for the US? > Would anyone be interested if I find more info on > this? > > I decided to calculate the economics of converting my > truck to SVO since they appear to be much better than > I originally anticipated. They are as follows: > > Cost of conversion---------------------------$250. > Cost of SVO processing unit------------$125. > Cost per gallon of WVO-------------------$0.0. > > Total cost over the past 6 months-----$375. > Fuel cost averted----------------------------$163 > Actual cost minus fuel savings---------$212 > > > This is based upon: > Miles driven------------------------------------3,750 > Cost of diesel fuel used--------------------$24 > Cost of WVO/SVO----------------------------$0.0 > Fuel cost per mile-----------------------------$0.006 > > I average about 15,000 miles per year of which nearly > 12,000 miles is for business purposes. Because my gas > powered vehicle gets twice the fuel mileage of my > converted truck I drive the truck less. If I had > parked my car and only driven my SVO powered truck > over the past six months the figures (extrapolated) > would be: > > Miles driven ---------------------------------7,500 > Fuel cost > averted---------------------------$163(truck) > > $123(car) > Actual cost minus fuel savings--------$89 > > Extrapolating further to a year: > > Miles driven----------------------------------15,000 > Fuel cost > averted----------------------------$326(truck) > > $246(car) > Actual cost minus fuel savings---------$197 (on the > plus side) > > If I had sold the car or simply canceled its' > insurance(since I would not have been driving it) I > could add nearly $200 in savings to that. > But if I end up paying 40 cents per gallon in "road > tax" I am $133 in the hole after the cost of > conversion and filtering equipment. > > Close as I can figure it my break even point in that > case will be 16 months after I converted. After that I > will be "pocketing" nearly $600 per year. That would > be nearly $1000 per year if the tax folks continue to > "not allow" me to pay the "road tax" I figure I owe. > > With what I have learned in the last six months I > believe I could now convert my truck for around $110 > and it would be a more sophisticated installation with > more safeguards for my engine and better monitoring. > However I would spend more on my WVO processor as I > can now build one that is much more automated for > about $175 and could produce from 3,500 gallons to > 5,000 gallons of deacidified, filtered WVO per year. > If the truck were my only vehicle, I end up not having > to pay any "road tax", and I knew then (when I > converted) what I know now (about conversio) the break > even point would be at about 10 months. > > Has anyone else computed their break even point. I > suspect since I used fuel prices of $1.30US per gallon > anyone with a more efficient vehicle and paying > European fuel prices would break even sooner. Is this > true? > > I would be interested to know if any one else has > "done the numbers"? > > Dana > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctions for all of > your unique holiday gifts! Buy at http://shopping.yahoo.com > or bid at http://auctions.yahoo.com > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. > To unsubscribe, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Need new boots for winter? Looking for a perfect gift for your shoe loving friends? Zappos.com is the perfect fit for all your shoe needs! http://us.click.yahoo.com/ltdUpD/QrSDAA/ySSFAA/FGYolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
