Posted on 01/17/2012 1:03:02 PM PST by DogByte6RER
5 Unusual Sales Taxes You Need To Avoid
With the economy still struggling, states are getting fairly crafty with how they charge consumers via sales taxes. It's no secret that dubious, yet all-too enforceable government laws have been with us since the dawn of the civilized world. In ancient Egypt, the pharaohs taxed cooking oil – of course, the main seller of cooking oil was the pharaoh. During the first century AD, the Roman empire taxed urine – a popular source of ammonia for common tasks like tanning hides and cleaning clothes. Then at the height of the Dark Ages (an era in European history notorious for its poor hygiene), some European governments taxed the sale of soap!
Unfortunately, onerous and unusual state taxes are still very much with us. What are some of the biggest offenders – and are they active in your state? Here's our top five:
Food Packaging Tax
States like Colorado have a weird definition of what constitutes food packaging. In using the term "essential" in its tax language for such commodities, Colorado finds itself in the strange position of taxing paper cup lids and napkins, but not paper cups or fast-food French fry containers.
Hot Air Balloon Tax
If you're in Kansas and in the mood to take a ride in a hot air balloon, beware of the state government's "amusement" tax. State regulation makes balloon rides taxable. But there is a caveat – only balloon rides that are tied, or tethered to the ground, are considered taxable. So, if you want to avoid paying taxes when taking a balloon ride over Topeka, make sure to leave the rope at home!
Careful on That Bagel
New York State has an interesting way of handling bagels – and taxes on buying bagels. If you want to eat a bagel tax-free, don't have the deli counter "prepare" it for you (i.e., add cream cheese or cut the bagel in two pieces). Prepare that bagel yourself, and you don't have to pay a tax on it.
Wet Fuse
In West Virginia, celebrating the Fourth of July – or any celebration where fireworks are used, can lighten your wallet. The state has a special tax – on top of its 6% sales tax – on things like ladyfingers and sparklers.
Fruit Cakes
California has gone bananas over the purchase of fruit by consumers. If you buy an apple from a regular retailer, you're in good shape, as the purchase is tax-exempt. If you buy fruit from a vending machine – and who hasn't done that – you'll pay an additional 33% on the amount of the purchase.
Maybe the most egregious case of over-taxation on a state level comes from Pennsylvania, where the commonwealth actually taxes the use of air (on carwash vacuum cleaners).
The Bottom Line
The above taxes certainly aren't the only taxes on statewide level, but they are surely among the most unique.
Another BIGGIE use for urine was in the making of salt petre for manufacturing gunpowder.
http://www.wisegeek.com/can-you-really-make-gunpowder-from-urine.htm
Urine can in fact be used in the manufacture of gunpowder, and it has historically been a very important source of one of the crucial ingredients in gunpowder, saltpeter, also known as niter. This nitrate compound is what allows gunpowder to rapidly oxidize and catch fire, generating an explosion which can be used to fire munitions. In the modern era, there are less smelly ways to get saltpeter, typically through an industrial process which uses ammonia as a base.
While you cannot literally make gunpowder from urine, as you need several other ingredients to produce gunpowder, urine can certainly be used to produce one necessary element. In addition to saltpeter, however, people also need charcoal and sulfur. These ingredients are both readily available, unlike saltpeter, so the popular stories about making gunpowder from urine do have a rational basis. Until the First World War, before people learned to reliably synthetically produce niter, urine, guano, and manure were all collected to produce gunpowder.
In the movie “1776” there is a musical scene where John Adams, in Philadelphia for deliberations during the Revolution, is communicating with Abigail back in Massachusetts, urging her and the ladies back home to make and send salt petre to Philadelphia for producing gunpowder....to which Abigail replies that the ladies in Massachusetts need PINS. Send PINS! No pins - no salt petre!
P.S. The ladies GOT their pins! ;o)
Personal opinion: throw the state a bone if you are running a business. Look for a few credit card charges for online stuff; calculate the tax & mail it in. Doesn’t have to be for a whole lot. They won’t bother coming after you if you appear to have “complied.”
Actually, that was a double entendre. He was telling her that he missed her, and the saltpetre was a reference to reducing the sex drive. She was saying no, you don't need saltpetre, you need to come home (pin=phallus...)because she had urges the same as him.
I have... The Jewish Community Center in Kansas City had a vending machine in the men's locker room (I can't say about the women's) that sold little tins of orange or apple juice, apples, oranges, and brownies.
That was back in the 1970s though.
Mark
Maybe they can order you to obtain another copy online.
They look at the items you have written off as business expenses and the purchases will show up there.
We have no sales tax in Oregon. However, there are special taxes on certain things, like hotel rooms.
Recently, there were billboards decrying the amount of sugar in soft drinks. I didn’t understand why state government was concerning itself with this, until quite recently.
The reason is that Multnomah County (and, presumably, other counties or the state) wants to tax soda/pop, and so the government was using tax dollars to preemptively demonize it.
Say you go to buy the new Iphone for $499.
However, find that you get the phone for $99, if you sign a one year contract for cellular and data services.
California still charges you sales tax on the $499.
I think that you are right. If you are an individual, there’s not much chance that they will come after you. If they did, the ‘return’ would be low. OTOH, if you’re a business owner with a paper trail because you’re writing-off business expenses — GOTCHA!
I play the game.
Wow.......I must REALLY be dense. All you say may be 100% correct......All I know is that the ladies of Massachusetts got the pins they wanted, and Philadelpia got its salt petre for gunpowder. And if John & Abigail got laid somewhere in the process, that’s all the better! ;o)
Indiana has that asinine tax...buy something on the internet, pay no sales tax. However, on your annual state tax form, you are to declare those purchases and pay the 7% state sales tax....the revenues are so large that they probably had to set up a separate bank account just to handle the overflow......or not
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