>Only for businesses (the idea was to give small businesses a tax break for those vehicles which are required to operate their business). What happened though is many took advantage of it to create a business that really didn't exist (only on paper) and bought Hummers.

Now wouldn't that be easy to catch with some data mining? A business that buys a tank and isn't hauling anything heavy, and doesn't even earn twice its value in a year... such a query can be written, run, debugged and reported in a day. IRS can do that and earn a fortune, instead of spending unknown heaps of money trying to catch small cheaters. (the case I have in mind was the UK tax or other service who spent a million to investigate a $100 fraud).

>You have to keep in mind that the majority of America is not in a metro area. Take a drive across America and get out in the rural areas and see the number of small farmers still out there and those with land who use those trucks on a daily basis. Now, if you live in the city, other than moving furniture or operating a service business, there is NO need for a truck. Most people who have SUVs use those SUVs as station wagons were used in the past. However, I cannot tell you the number of families I know of with 1 or two children who own SUVs and justify it because during football or baseball season they drive many of the team and their gear around to games and practices. Often they have two vehicles - a truck and an SUV and they live in the city. No justifying that...

Exactly - if you're a farmer, if you live in an area where 90% of places can be reached by dirt road only, if you have property in such a place, if you're a real business where your vehicle is used as means of production - then it's your means of production and should get the same tax break as your drills, kilns, welders and whatnots. If you're in the arms race - trying to be heavier on the road than the Joneses - you should be taxed to death, just like anything else that's a killer is overtaxed (tobacco, alcohol, weapons, gasoline...).

(ok, I exaggerate there... gasoline has some good uses, and so does alcohol)