In that regard, tax evasion results in lost revenues to state and local governments, and erodes taxpayer confidence in government. Those taxes and fees, including automobile registration and licensing fees and motor fuels taxes, are used by all states to fund essential highway and transportation infrastructure projects. Local governments in many states also receive tax revenues from these sources. This executive summary highlights the estimates of road fund revenues evaded and the methods being used to combat road fund tax evasion. A more thorough account of these topics, as well as detailed explanations of the study methodology, literature review, survey findings and methods of evasion can be found in the full report.
Tax evasion is the failure to pay taxes according to the law.
Whether this failure is willful or inadvertent, the failure to pay taxes and fees is illegal. Governments at all levels have a strong interest in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the tax system. For these reasons, tax evasion has received more attention as a major public policy issue in recent years. Scholars in this field contend that the first priority must be to uphold the fairness and integrity of our tax structures. Such efforts have focused on the nature of the road fund tax and fee evasion problem and on the development of strategies to mitigate the problem.