Taxed to Death
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.
Taxed to Death
I haven't. In fact, I'm not sure I know anyone who has...
That's one sure way to pi$$ off your constituents...
My favorite is the “Use Tax”. The state just sends you a form requiring you to disclose any product of service for which you paid no sales tax for that calendar year. So if you purchased that new tablet PC through some online retailer, guess what?
NYS is the state that hired 50,000+ people during a recent hiring freeze. Hence the draconian taxation.
Does anybody remember when we were the T.E.A. (Taxed ENOUGH, Already!!) party??
(Before the Media turned us into the inflamed appendix of the Republican party??)
Betcha they get LOTS of compliance on that one. /NOT
Oh, we’re still here, as the Moron Mainstream Media will find out in November. Count on it.
I think that was his point, in a humorously sarcastic way.
The old saying about the ability to tax is the ability to destroy, remains true as always.
I was hoping that was the case, but since it was in reference to California I was not counting on it...
I'll guess! I still leave the form blank like a do every year regardless of what I purchased online, just like I've been doing consequence free for the last decade.
I still leave the form blank like a do every year regardless of what I purchased online.
Careful, I recently was audited for Use Tax. The auditor went through all my credit card bill and circled each item that looked like no tax was added ($89.99, $69.95, etc) and demanded that I show a receipt for each one.
.. going back three years. Ouch.
I think it’s time for another tea party show of force, maybe on tax day.
“I’ll guess! I still leave the form blank like a do every year regardless of what I purchased online, just like I’ve been doing consequence free for the last decade.”
The one that I like is you buy something from an on-line retailer outside of your state which avoids the OLR having to charge you Sales Tax. The OLR “orders your whatever from a retailer near where you live ( inside your state) and asks them to “drop ship” it to you. This gets you your order quicker and with lower shipping costs. Since the OLR made an out of state purchase, they don’t pay any sales tax either. Cool! Not feeding the beast is a good thing!
read
Interesting, this is a tax on kids, and a mean one at that.
Now it becomes apparent why California food Marxists have banned all "unhealthy" foods and soda from school lunches and possession by students. It's buy fruit from vending machines or starve.
It was more of an admission fee to the public urinals. Previously they were free, being paid for by the sale of urine to the laundry (ammonia from decomposing urine was the best cleaner available prior to the invention of soap).
Why would you supply your Credit Card Bills? Who doesn’t shred them?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.