The Tire Industry Association (TIA) opposes language recently written into a truck tire federal excise tax bill that would let super singles be taxed at the same rate as bias ply truck tires.
"Super single tires replace two tires with one wider-based tire," TIA Executive Vice President Roy Littlefield wrote to Senator Charles Grassley of the United States Senate Committee on Finance yesterday.
"If taxed at the 4.725-cent rate, the tax on this one tire will cut the tax on these tires in half, leaving the government with a deficit. TIA believes this position is not revenue neutral."
TIA is calling for a rate of 7.25 cents. "But we don´t think this is the time to experiment with numbers, and believe this provision should be pulled and studied more closely."
Littlefield also told Grassley that "the current definition of a super single tire opens up a much broader range than intended and could potentially produce a larger shortfall in the budget. It would be better to say that a super single tire -- when replacing two tires -- should be taxed at a lower rate.
"Super singles are a growing market and putting a provision into place allowing them a lower tax rate that is not revenue neutral could harm the budget."
Littlefield urged Grassley "to strike the language that includes super single tires until a proper tax rate for these tires can be determined."
