Free Republic

IN THE MAELSTROM of tax increases proposed by Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley (D), it’s easy to lose track of which are most critical. For a start, it’s useful to identify which needs have been most and longest neglected — and near the top of that list is transportation. It’s been 20 years since Maryland raised its gasoline tax, the largest source of transportation funding. As construction costs have risen, the revenue it yields has plummeted in real terms. At this point, Marylanders (like Virginians, who last saw a gas tax increase when Ronald Reagan was president) are not paying for...

WASHINGTON - Many of Maryland's traffic woes would be alleviated by allowing a percentage tax on gasoline, the state's governor said Monday. While speaking on WTOP's "Ask the Governor," Martin O'Malley said he would like to "phase out" the sales tax exemption on gas, which would allow a percentage tax on the fuel in additon to the existing 23-cent flat tax. The current flat tax has not changed since the early 1990s when gasoline was about $1.08, the governor says, adding the regional arteries wouldn't be so clogged if the state had more to invest in transportation infrastructure. "The best...

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...

Gov. Jerry Brown has formally proposed a $7 billion a year increase in sales and income taxes to close the state's chronic budget deficit. Whether it will be the only tax increase on the November ballot is uncertain. Several others are in the works, and if they reach the ballot as well, voter confusion could doom all. But assuming that Brown's stands alone, how would the campaign shape up? By next year, he presumably will have pulled the spending cut "triggers" built into the 2011-12 budget because revenues are not meeting its extremely optimistic levels, which would mean schools, colleges...

The days of skirting around having to pay retail sales tax by shopping online may be coming to a close—and Amazon, of all companies, is supporting the effort. Online retailer Amazon.com has a long history of fighting requirements for shoppers to pay their local state sales tax whenever a purchase is made via the Internet. Most recently, Amazon has been battling it out with California, which has been trying to force Amazon and other online retailers with ties to the state to collect sales tax on purchases.

We've steered away from this question for some time now, since so many other current events have seized the news cycle, but Herman Cain had a fairly long history of pontificating on the radio and writing editorial pieces before he began his current run for the presidency. When you generate that much material, you're bound to leave behind a few nuggets for your opponents to find. The case in point today, however, if a fairly glaring one. Highlighted by Doug Mataconis at Outside the Beltway, it’s noted that Mr. Cain may have written passionately about an idea which runs directly...

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has done the nation a great service by proposing major changes in the byzantine way the U.S. government collects its revenue. Cain maintains that his so-called "9-9-9" plan restructures the nation's tax system in a way that significantly boosts real growth. He also claims that his program is revenue-neutral. This means that it is designed to replace the revenues generated by the current tax system. Restructuring the U.S. tax system along the lines Cain proposes might promote explosive economic growth. However, there are serious problems with tax proposals that claim to be revenue-neutral. One potential...

Tthe Wall Street Journal’s Steve Moore, who helped design Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 tax plan, is having second thoughts about the political viability of the national sales tax aspect of the plan and has recommended a 9 percent payroll tax to replace it. In an interview with National Review Online, Moore explains that he has “come to the conclusion that a national sales tax is just a nonstarter,” politically. While he wasn’t expecting such a hostile reaction to the idea, Moore concedes that “people are naturally suspicious of a new tax.” Cain’s current plan would eliminate the payroll tax altogether, and...

Now that President Obama and the Democrats have generated a projected record $10 trillion in new debt over the next 10 years, they are now singing their favorite song: We must raise taxes! Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., sent the first signal a few weeks ago when he said paying taxes is the price we pay for living in this great country. Never mind that we are paying too much and that too much of our money is being wasted. One of the president's senior economic advisers, Paul Volcker, said recently in a speech that "we must raise taxes" to deal...

Herman Cain tested the national spotlight Sunday as the Republican presidential primary’s newest front-runner. Facing tough questions during a 25-minute one-on-one interview on NBC’s "Meet the Press," Cain acknowledged that his plan to simplify the tax code would raise taxes for “some” people and clarified his position that he doesn’t believe abortion should be an option in instances of rape and incest. Scrapping the current federal tax code — which he described as a “10-million-word mess” — would eliminate a host of invisible taxes and eventually reduce prices, Cain said. Some economists have pointed out that Cain’s plan would shift...

September 22, 2011Combined State and Local Sales Taxes: New Report by TF StaffToday we released a new report on local sales taxes, which updates a study we published in February.  The new report updates the state and local sales tax rates across the country and ranks each state on its combined state rate and average local rate.  Click here to read the report. Most shoppers have some idea of the sales tax rate imposed by their state, or they can at least find the rate by looking at the receipts they receive with every taxed purchase. However, it's easy to forget...

ANNAPOLIS — A Senate leader in the Democrat-controlled General Assembly said Wednesday that a proposal to increase the state’s gas tax might get shelved during its 2012 session because of anticipated budget woes and public outcry. Senate Budget and Taxation Committee Chairman Edward J. Kasemeyer, Baltimore County Democrat, said legislators will likely have their hands full attempting to close an anticipated $1 billion budget shortfall and might not get around to considering a proposal to raise the 23.5-cents-a-gallon excise tax. A state-appointed commission recommended last week that lawmakers pass $520 million in tax and fee increases to fund improvements to...

Monday, September 12th at 12:00 Noon on the corner of Markham and Broadway The Chamber of Commerce is calling for a "Early Vote PRO 1 cent Sales Tax" Rally. The Arkansas Tea Party is asking you to make a sign Against Any New Tax and stand across from them. No shouting, No Chanting.....just to have our presence in opposition to a new tax!!! Rally against the Little Rock Sales Tax Monday September 12th! _________________________________________________________ We need people to cover polling sites with signs and flyers opposing urging people to vote NO (against) on the LR sales tax increases September 13th!...

SACRAMENTO -- The big showdown between traditional retailers and the online sales giant Amazon may dissolve into one big handshake. Amazon is considering backing away from a referendum to overturn a law forcing the company to collect sales taxes if a deal can be worked out with brick-and-mortar retailers and legislative leaders, according to Capitol sources. Amazon would get a two-year reprieve on California taxes but would pledge to support Congressional action on leveling the playing field on Internet sales taxes nationally, according to one person involved in talks between the traditional retailers and Amazon. The negotiations took place Tuesday...

PLEASANT HILL -- To get a good deal, Paul Brodman used to buy cigarettes online. Little did he know, those smokes weren't the bargain they appeared to be. There's no getting out of paying state taxes simply by buying cigarettes online. Earlier this month, Brodman received a bill for $1,398 from the State Board of Equalization for back taxes and penalties he owes for 100 cartons of cigarettes he bought online from an out-of-state retailer in 2007 and 2008. Initially, Brodman thought it was a mistake. "We smoked them; we didn't resell them," he said. "I wasn't selling them on...

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) introduces legislation that would require online retailers such as Amazon to collect sales taxes. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) plans a similar measure in the House.

A Senate committee listened Tuesday to the pros and cons of expanding Maryland's sales tax base to include more services, as well as goods purchased over the Internet. The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee spent the day in Annapolis receiving briefings on taxes, the federal debt ceiling, education funding and toll increases. Legislative committees meet occasionally between the 90-day General Assembly sessions. Tangible products, but few services, sold by Maryland retailers are taxed at 6 percent. This year, the sales tax is predicted to generate $4.2 billion, about 30 percent of the state's general fund revenue, according to the Department...

Amazon.com is negotiating a deal with Texas officials that would see the online retail giant promise to create more than 5,000 jobs and invest $300 million in the state over the next three years. In exchange, lawmakers would have to grant Amazon a 4½-year exemption from collecting tax on online sales in Texas, according to documents obtained by the American-Statesman. The proposal would be attached to Senate Bill 1, the fiscal matters bill being debated in the Legislature's special session. SB 1 is a must-pass measure essential to balancing the state's 2012-13 budget. The American-Statesman obtained a draft copy of...

DALLAS — Amazon.com wants to make a deal with the state of Texas. The proposed offer circulating around Austin and obtained by The Dallas Morning News would let Amazon off the hook for collecting sales taxes from its Texas customers over the next 4 ½ years, and would bring 5,000 jobs to the state. The company also is promising to spend $300 million to open distribution centers where those employees would work. Finally, it wants the Texas comptroller's office to set up a website where its customers can send sales tax owed on Amazon purchases to the state. Historically, voluntary...

Prospective presidential candidate Michele Bachmann says she wants a national sales tax, but can’t vote for it because she believes Congress would just add it to the current income tax system. In a profile in The Wall Street Journal, Bachmann says she loves the FAIR tax proposal but just cannot bring herself to back it in the House. “If we were starting over from scratch, I would favor a national sales tax," the three-term Minnesota congresswoman says. But the reality is that if it were enacted, the chances are “we would end up with a dual tax, a national sales...