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Comments
The ghost of Econ Cat disagrees
Raising a sales tax puts a damper on pretty much every business in the Commonwealth, with no benefit except (possibly) increased revenue.
Gas tax also pinches commerce, but not as universally. Plus it takes cars off the road, reducing pollution and road maintenance costs, while increasing quality of life.
A honk tax would really be best. A gas tax punishes all drivers. A honk tax only dings the a-holes.
-Cosmo
http://cosmocatalano.com
World's Toughest Writer
This is Massachusetts.
This is Massachusetts. Implement a honk and finger tax and you'll be nailing every driver on the road.
Damper? What damper?
The pros know their multiplication tables.
See, if you double the tax rate, you'll double your revenue. That's multiplication!
For some reason, this makes me feel a little less confident. I think they may have to move past the abacus in order to get a more realistic projection.
New Math
They can multiply but they can't subtract - for all the stuff we go and buy in NH. My guess is the malls in Nashua will thrive if they raise the sales tax - especially stores selling big ticket items. Well - at least somebody's real estate will be worth something! Maybe Barney Frank will get a law passed so we really can force NH retailers to pay MA sales tax!
Amazon says: MA, you're a fool
Why go to NH when I can have it delivered to my doorstep in 2 days for free?
Oh, yeah, SURE, I'll fill out that box on my annual tax form that asks how much I bought out of state for use in state...Riiiiight..
HEY, ASSHOLES, PUT IN MORE GAS TAX ALREADY!
Enjoy that shit while it
Enjoy that shit while it lasts: a lot of states are lobbying for the right to force Amazon to charge sales tax.
I'm so glad the House is
I'm so glad the House is making this decision based on whether or not it'll have to vote on multiple taxes. Somebody, like maybe Dan Grabauskas, should also maybe walk them through what happened the last time they decided to stake funding on sales taxes, as well.
Just grow a spine and hike the gas tax. I seem to remember Massachusetts businesses came out in FAVOR of that particular tax raise.
What I dont get is why they
What I dont get is why they are all getting squishy feet now. Elections are over a year and a half away. By the time election time comes around people will have forgotten about the gas tax hike, because after all prices at the pump INCLUDE the tax. There is no second guessing. Sure we will be reminded about it and we will notice its more expensive here then NH but that will not be in your face all day.
Sales tax on the other hand, almost nobody calculates the sales tax in their pricing in stores. So when I buy something that is $99.99 it comes out to be about $106.99, that will be an immediate recognition. I will think about that everytime I buy something, especially those things I buy daily or weekly. Prices on consumer goods tend not to be as volatile as gasoline so it will be noticed by the population and it will be harder to hide from.
I do not understand how the state politicians do not see that the long term grumbling over the sales tax is worse for them then the short term rage over the gas tax. Politically speaking its not so smart.
Choices
When they raise the sales tax, it's in your face and will cause you to make choices that harm Massachusetts, such as: maybe I should buy this over the internet, because the shipping is less than the sales tax.
If people really want to drive to another state to buy gas, I don't expect that to cause much of a problem for us. Why would you waste gallons to save pennies? It's not convenient or cost-effective; pique would have to be your hobby.
Gas Tax Higher in NH
If I'm not mistaken, NH already has a higher tax on gas than MA.
Cowards in the Legislature
This is ridiculous. The reason why the sales tax has become the latest and greatest is because of this feeling that it will be better for them if legislators only have to take one tax vote if they jack up the sales tax.
This is another example of why sound byte politics sucks. Look, I understand the argument that we're all too busy trying to keep our heads above water that we don't have the time to read through legislation, or to dig as deeply into the workings of government as our revolutionary ancestors did. However, if my legislator thinks that I will be more inclined to vote for him (or less inclined to vote against him) because Howie Carr says he voted to raise taxes once rather than twice, he has another thing coming (I'm talking about you, Representative Rush). I am perfectly capable of understanding why there might have to be an increase in the gas tax AND some other tax and evaluating each on its merits. But I want to see some debate.
What I am really looking for is some political courage here. I want people who are going to stand up and say something like, "look I know this is not the greatest thing in the world, but political expediency be damned, I think it's the right thing to do given the facts as they appear." I may or may not agree with the decision (after all, reasonable people can disagree), but if I am convinced that John Q. Legislator took a reasonable and principled decision, based on the facts available at the time, I will not exact revenge on him at the polls based solely on one or a few votes.
Political courage? HA!
Political courage? HA! Most of these guys are secure in their little seatsies as long as they don't rock the boat. Maybe somebody should start a petition for retroactive term limits.
A sales tax raises the cost
A sales tax raises the cost of non gasoline transport
Gas tax only hurts polluting, congestion making vehicles.
I wonder how this would
I wonder how this would affect the MBTA Forward Funding? Right now, the T gets 1% of the 5% sales tax, an amount that was supposed to grow with inflation but instead has shrunk with the economy and internet sales.
But, does the formula give the T a flat 1% of taxable sales? Or, do they get 20% of the sales tax, no matter what its rate?
Obviously, if sales taxes go up 40%, taxable sales will drop as even more people shop online or out of state, or spend less. Let's say as an example, taxable sales were $100 but drop by 10%.
The state would have gotten $5 of $100 under the existing sales tax, but now 7% of $90 is $6.30. The state gets more, but...
What if the T gets a flat 1% of taxable sales? They would have gotten $1 but now with lower sales, they'll only get 90 cents. However, if the T gets 20% of the new sales tax, its income will go up to $1.26.
I blame the waiters
The waitstaff lobby must be behind this. People are so well trained to "Triple the sales tax" to determine a proper tip, that this will be an extra 6% of the total bill in the pockets of waiters and waitresses across the Commonwealth.
There's no other logical conclusion.
Joke's on them!
I've been doubling 10% of the final bill for months now! This will change *nothing* for me! Ha!
Wait, what?
Good argument...
Except the proposal is to raise the sales tax, not the meals tax.