While I don’t generally post opinionated off-topic editorials I just couldn’t resist this one.
When I initially heard of the soda tax last year I honestly thought it was a joke. Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia is again proposing a two-cents-per-ounce excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages in order to close a $629 million school budget spending gap. Now I’m all for supporting our schools and these uncertain economic times are difficult for everyone but you honestly want to tax soda?
How many taxes do we as citizens of the United States of America already pay?
- Capital Gains Tax (15% on long term gains)
- Cigarette Tax ($0.36 per pack)
- Corporate Income Tax
- Federal Income Tax (25% for household making $100,000)
- Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
- Gasoline Tax ($0.48 per gallon)
- Inheritance Tax (4.5% direct descendants, 12% siblings and 15% other heirs)
- Interest Expense (tax on the money)
- Liquor Tax ($0.08 per gallon)
- Local (Wage) Income Tax (Philadelphia residents 3.928% non-residents 3.4985%)
- Luxury Taxes
- Medicare Tax
- Property Tax (assessed value x 8.264%)
- Real Estate Tax
- Sales Taxes (8% in Philadelphia)
- School Tax (3.9280%)
- Social Security Tax (4.2% for employees and 6.2% for employers)
- State Income Tax (Pennsylvania is a flat 3.07%)
- State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
- Telephone Federal Excise Tax
- Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
- Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
- Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
- Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
- Telephone State and Local Tax
- Telephone Usage Charge Tax
- Vehicle Sales Tax (6% for title and registration)
List taken from Yahoo Answers and shorten to remove permit fees, user fees, etc. I’ve added some of the rates for Philadelphia and Pennsylvania above. If you look over the list it’s pretty scary to see all the different taxes that we pay.
So when you make your money you are taxed at the federal, state and local levels. When you spend your money your taxed again via the state sales tax and a host of other “additional” taxes. When you invest the money you’ve made and you in turn make more money you are taxed yet again.
I can see why the politicians wouldn’t mind adding yet another tax to the list.
As I previously mentioned I understand supporting our local, state and federal governments and our schools but we just can’t keep adding taxes to close what politicians and administrators see as “spending budget gaps”. On the flip side I do recognize that the US isn’t the worst country in the world as far as taxes goes. Look at Ireland for example, a country where I have many relatives and that I’ve personally visited has a federal income tax rate of 20% for earnings under ~ €45,400 (married couple) and 41% for earnings over that amount.
It’s not easy find a slice of the American Pie with Uncle Sam eating it all up.
Cheers!
1) You pay almost no taxes in the US compared with other countries so get over it. .
2) Taxing people who are willing to degrade their health and cause a drain on the economy makes perfect sense. It’s in your own interests to do this.
Hi Greg,
Thanks as always for the comment!
I agree that there are certainly other nations with much worse tax rates… believe I said as much in the original post. The issue is that people need to speak up for themselves and tell their respective governments what are are willing and aren’t willing to fund. That’s the beauty of democracy and it’s a very real subject right now in countries like Egypt, Yemen and Syria.
Is the Value Added Tax still in place in Ireland and England? I just looked it up and was floored to find the VAT is 20% in England and 21% in Ireland. You’re paying 1/5th of the cost of the item in tax… I knew things were bad but that’s almost unbelievable. However, while an education is free in Ireland it’s far from free here in the United States.
Anyway back to the tax…
What about a rare meet tax?
What about a candy tax?
What about a sun bathing tax?
Why should they stop just at soda? The point is it’s a very slippery slope and who’s to decide what to tax and what doesn’t get taxed.
I wonder if there are any statistics out there that can tell us how much of every tax dollar actually gets spent running the bureaucracy.
Cheers!
death and taxes my friend. just food for thought , sales tax in Ontario Canada is now13% and just this year it was applied to unprepared food for the first time.
with that said, like greg in the uk i have free healthcare and my house is still worth more than it was 4 years ago . i get back what i put in. so think it over . i am sure Canada immigration would be happy to talk to you.
Thanks for the comment Paul.
Perhaps I should try taxing my three daughters to pay for that new Motorola Xoom since I have a budget spending shortfall thanks to gas prices.
There’s another topic that we I really loathe – gas prices.
Cheers!
You think soda tax is a joke, check out the toilet paper tax in Omaha:
http://omaha.com/article/20110323/NEWS01/703239866
Thanks for the comment Peter.
Is that legit? They can’t really be serious… I’m wondering if there might be something already in the water out in Omaha. I would have loved to see the reaction from the federal officials to that idea.
I did like Maggie O’Brien started the article; “Mayor Jim Suttle went to Washington Tuesday flush with ideas for how federal officials could help cities like Omaha pay for multibillion-dollar sewer projects.”
Cheers!
As a smoker, we told you guys this was going to happen but no one believed us.
Thanks for the comment Joe.
Your point is a great one. Taxing cigarettes was relatively “easy” from a mindset perspective because there’s scientific proof that smoking is dangerous to your health. Why stop there though…
Yes that’s a slippery slope indeed.
Cheers!
Personally I think it is a great idea. I saw increase tax on all junk food, cigarettes, alcohol, everything people don’t need. Why not? If people really want to put garbage into their bodies, they will pay in more way than one. :)
Just my opinion!
-Rich
Thanks for the comment and sharing your opinion Rich!