The “new” vs. “used” is there so that the tax is paid only once. Good point about real estate. There will always be some controversial aspects of any plan...
But states tax the sale of used items now, so the idea of having a sales tax that doesn’t apply to businesses selling used items is somewhat novel. And having it emphasized as a benefit of the plan will certainly help drive the market distortion between new and used sales.
Once again, government will be picking winners (people selling used items) and losers (businesses trying to sell new items).
But I understand why it is done, and it would seem odd to tax the sale of a used item, since it was taxed when sold as new.
One way you could make some quick money: Right before the law goes into effect, go out and clean out the electronic stores of expensive items. Don’t unwrap them.
After the law goes into effect, sell them on e-bay as “used — still in original packaging”. You’ll be able to undercut the retail stores by 5%, and still make a 4% profit.
I’m just not sure telling poor people that their taxes won’t be bad because they buy used crap anyway isn’t a selling point.
I have to say here that we buy most of our clothes from thrift shops, so I’m not really a used-item bigot. In fact, this could drive up the cost of used items, since they won’t have the 9% adder.