State goes to the sales tax well too often

Published January 24, 2016

by Editorial by Burlington Times-News, January 23, 2016.

Another sales tax?

That’s what we hear is rolled into a proposed tax bill that state lawmakers may consider in the short session coming up in April. The latest tax would apply to any museum shop purchase and to any sales by a non-profit group to benefit a school or a state agency, such as a state-run historic site. We have a few of those here in Alamance County.

Thankfully, the measure would exempt sales at concession stands in a high school’s stadium where booster clubs often augment the services they provide.

But the latest tax seems typical of the nickel-and-diming of the Tar Heel taxpayer imposed by state lawmakers the past few years in sales taxes and fees. Income taxes have been cut, which is appreciated. But that’s been replaced by something that is tougher to swallow for low and middle-income taxpayers.

Consider:

? At the DMV, the cost of an eight-year driver’s license has gone from $32 to $40. The motor vehicle registration fee has gone from $28 to $36.

? Community college tuition is going from $72 to $76 per credit hour for in-state residents. For a full-time student — who may be going to a community college because he or she can’t afford to attend a state university yet — that charge adds up.

? The fee for a medical test for newborns, which all new parents are required to pay, is up from $19 to $24, as of Oct. 1.

? Examples of services that will be taxed at a county’s current rate, starting March 1: Car repairs, oil changes, flooring installation, kitchen remodeling, appliance installation, service contracts on things like computers.

While leaders in the legislature boast about how much they’ve cut the state income tax, ordinary taxpayers may find they’re putting that windfall into new sales taxes and fees.

State lawmakers fear income tax the way vampires flinch around crosses. And so do we. Our problem is replacing one tax with another and raising a glass to toast it.

Economists usually point out that sales taxes weigh heavier on poor and middle-class families, since they tend to squander a bigger chunk of their income on food and children’s shoes than on investments.

All taxes hurt, but harming those who can least afford it seems, well, wrong.

GateHouse Media

http://www.thetimesnews.com/opinion/20160123/editorial-state-goes-to-sales-tax-well-too-often