MOTOR VEHICLE FUELS TAXES IN CALIFORNIA

Abstract

Indeed, it is well recognized that taxes and tax exemptions operate like the police power, and are often consciously employed for the regulation of industry, morals, or welfare, rather than the acquisition of public revenue. . . . Even when not consciously intended to be regulative, taxes nevertheless regulate, for they, like the protective tariff, determine the directions in which people may become wealthy by determining directions in which they may not become wealthy.13