CLANGING BELL
By Russ Heaps

(July 22, 2012) In working on one of my many assignments, I've been trying to nail down a list of gas guzzlers and the exact dollar amount each is accessed for the Gas Guzzler Tax. This sounds relatively simple, doesn't it? Not so much.

I need this information from the source; not reprinted on some consumer Web site like AutoTrader or Edmunds. Not that being able to go to such sources would be much of help anyway; they don't have all the dollar amounts either.

No issue finding a list of the "offending" cars. It is available on the EPA's Web site. The rub comes in trying to find the exact tax each car carries.

A couple of hours of this past week were burned chatting up bureaucrats in "it's not my job" conversations about the list.

I talked to the EPA that sent me to the IRS that told me "Hey, there's no central list."

What?

If the IRS determines the tax amounts, why isn't that centralized in a single office somewhere? Can't say, but apparently it isn't.

After investing 15 minutes or so in a phone call to our federal tax collecting agency, I was advised that a single list doesn't exist. "But please put your request in writing and e-mail it to us," the friendly lady in the IRS Media Relations office told me, "and I'll see what I can pull together."

What do you think the chances are that I will hear from her again? That was on Thursday morning and so far, nada.

Our tax dollars at work.