Commercial truck owners -- backed by a trade association -- are challenging Indiana's fuel tax.

Led by independent trucker Max Anderson of Muncie, truckers claim the 27-cents-a-gallon tax on commercial motor carriers should not be charged when they're traveling on the Indiana Toll Road, because it means they are paying twice to use state highways.
The Indiana Tax Court has rejected Anderson's argument, according to the Indianapolis Star. But with legal help from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn., Anderson has appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which could decide as soon as this fall whether to hear it.
The trucking group said the high court needs to hear the case because similar challenges have been made in Illinois, New York and Ohio.
Truckers want the Supreme Court to rule that the state's Motor Carrier Fuel Tax is not a tax but a user fee.
The difference: A tax can be used to support many services, but a user fee should not be higher than the cost of providing a specific service -- in this case, roads used by truckers.
Because the Indiana Toll Road is funded through tolls, concessions and other goods sold along the route, it does not need the fuel tax revenue, truckers argue.
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