Industry opposes US tax plan

A proposal in the USA to extend highway vehicle excise taxes to off-road machinery is being opposed by the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association (SC&RA).

The Internal Revenue Service excise tax proposal would subject machinery, including mobile cranes, to motor vehicle taxes on fuel, tyres, truck and trailer purchases as well as annual heavy vehicle taxes. This equipment was previously exempt as it uses the highway only for transportation to and from jobsites.

AEM and SC&RA, which have lodged a joint objection, are founding members of the Mobile Machinery Coalition that includes 25 industry groups opposed to the excise tax proposal.

'This difficult economic period is not the time to add substantial costs for consumers with taxes at the time of purchase and throughout the life of new machines,' said AEM chairman David Woods.

In addition, more than 50 members of the House of Representatives and leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have written the IRS to express their opposition to these new taxes.

'This proposal flies in the face of the capital depreciation bonus created this spring by Congress and the Bush administration to stimulate the nation's manufacturing sector, adding new taxes for the hardworking members of the industries they tried to help,' Woods said.