Burdens of Taxation? Cook County's New Soda Tax Just a Drop in the Bucket

the County decided to grant a massive tax break: people paying with welfare cards such as SNAP would not be subject to the tax.

WTF? WTF? WTF? This stuff shouldn't be bought with welfare money anyway, but not only do they get to buy it with my money, they won't have to pay the same tax I would.

How many welfare people will use their cards to buy pop and then sell it for a price between their tax free price and the fully taxed price. Pick up fifty cases and sell them with a dollar profit instead of $2.88 tax.

Anyone who has lived in Chicago knows this will result in a bunch of fat blacks riding the El to the first stop outside Cook County. They’ll load up on soda and truck it back on the El, taking up valuable seats.

These stories of Liberals in government always reminds me of that video many years ago capturing a liberal congressman or local politician who increased sales taxes and then took his tax paid car out of his jurisdiction and purchased groceries and other items.

With less than two weeks to go before implementation, the County decided to grant a massive tax break: people paying with welfare cards such as SNAP would not be subject to the tax.

What a brilliant idea! Tax unhealthy products, but then exempt from the tax the very people it could most help - the overweight and diabetic, which is what a disproportionate percentage of welfare recipients are.

Should they both be charged the same total tax, even though it’s then based on the size of the container rather than the quantity of beverage, as the law requires?
....
By contrast, this new soda tax works more like the horrible European concept known as the VAT: a retailer pays the tax when he buys a product, then gets reimbursed by passing on the tax when he sells it.

So how does this work, exactly? Restaurants generally don't buy fountain drinks by the ounce, they buy them in boxes of sacks of concentrated syrup. then the dispenser mixes the syrup with carbonated water.
- So, is the restaurant paying the tax on the size of the syrup (a couple gallons), then charging customers per ounce by the drink (makes 20-50 gallons)? They'll be making bank on the difference here!!!
- What is the tax on a one-ounce packet of koolaid or gatorade powder? What if the sugar is added separately?
- What's the bonus tax on a bulk 10lb bag of sugar? Or is this tax only on liquid purchases, in which case are the aforementioned drink mix powders also exempt? (They're dry powder, but their purpose is to make a liquid drink!)
- What about sweet tea vs Commie tea?

Finally, I guess the self-fill drink stations are gonna be removed? Can't have people getting their own unknown amounts of sugar!

Yes, Svartalfiar, as you’re noticed, this is a complex, rather wacky tax.

For pre-made product, They pay the tax to the wholesaler when they buy the cans or bottles or jugs, then charge again at the same rate, a penny per ounce, when they sell it. Easy enough...

But as you described, there’s a challenge when you buy syrup for a fountain machine. In that case, they pay the tax when the retailer delivers it, based on the amount that it’s going to make. So for example if one cup becomes a gallon, then you pay a gallon’s worth of tax on that cup of syrup, because you’ll be selling a gallon to the customer.....

... except that you WON’T ... because you’ll be selling it with ice.

So it’s very peculiar, and that’s one of the main reasons the judged issued a stay this afternoon.

they’ll meet again in court in ten days.

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