Berger: pander to the rich, make the poor go hungry
Just a few reasons why a consumption tax is a bad idea:
Berger said he’s looking to institute a consumption-based tax system that includes more services subject to sales tax. While he was not forthcoming with specifics, we could see prescription drugs and doctor’s visits, higher fees for court and government services, higher fees on driver’s licenses and vehicle registrations, a hefty hike in sales tax and probably two dozen other new or higher fees we can’t even imagine.
He also intends to re-impose the full state sales tax on groceries.
Which is exactly the opposite direction we need to go to address NC's growing poverty problem. Elections do have consequences, and it appears the poor are going to suffer those consequences more than anyone else.
BlueNC is dedicated to making North Carolina a more progressive and prosperous state. If your intention is to disrupt this effort, please find somewhere else to express your opinions.
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Consumption-based tax
It will be interesting to see exactly which "services" would be subject to this tax...
- Haircuts?
- Accounting services (including tax prep)?
- Legal services?
- Brokerage fees?
- Architect/engineering services?
- Massages?
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Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. -- sign on Einstein's office wall.
Most of those, probably
And I have a hunch it will impact truly small businesses (10 employees or less) severely. Especially the ones who have an established client base, who are (understandably) sensitive to any increase in costs.
Coming in the wake of a recession, this is arguably the worst idea I've seen in some time. In the world of small business, getting new customers to replace the old is damned near impossible.
Plus, the idea will kill Charlotte
People in Maryland who live near Delaware routinely travel great distances to buy stuff where they can save on sales tax. Retailers of big ticket items in Charlotte will be toast with a 2% differential tax rate compared to South Carolina.
Then again, who gives a shit about retailers in Charlotte? McCrory certainly doesn't.
Did you see that the Charlotte City Council wants to Give $125M
to their NFL team (Panthers?) and I think they also want to raise sales tax to fund it. In our paper today. I guess I'm unamerican, but I really don't understand people who go all orgasmic over sports. Personally, I think it's nuts.
Stan Bozarth