March 30, 2017
PUBLISHER’S CORNER
By Eloise Graham
Taxes
“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Taxes, an appropriate subject for April. We all seem to feel doom and gloom when we hear “April 15th.” Perhaps we no longer have to pay Federal Income Tax, but we still dread that day as one of misery.
A brief history lesson as explained by Wikipedia: History of taxation in the U.S. began with the colonial protest against British taxation policy in the 1760s, leading to the American Revolution. Then the new nation began collecting taxes on imports (tariffs), whiskey and (for a while) on glass windows. States and localities collected poll taxes on voters and property taxes on land and commercial buildings. There are state and federal excise taxes. Inheritance tax began after 1900, while the states (but not the federal government) began collecting sales tax in the 1930s. To pay for the Civil War, the U.S. imposed income taxes briefly during the war and the 1890s. Then in 1913, imposed income taxes on a permanent basis.
Some states do not collect income taxes, while others have no sales or use tax. Some states have a “luxury tax.” This is a tax placed on products or services that are considered unnecessary. This is an indirect tax that is added to the price of the good or service. The term remains, although many of these goods are not considered luxuries any more. The term “sin tax” seems to be more appropriate. This is a state or local tax placed on tobacco, alcohol, jewelry or high-end cars and boats. In Wyoming, there is a tax of $0.02 per gallon of beer, but in the state of Washington, the tax is $14.24 per gallon of liquor. Minnesota has no sales tax on winter coats, unless it is fur or fur trimmed, made of an animal pelt. What about leather and suede coats? The law had to be revised to say, ”any animal skin or part thereof with hair, fleece, or fur fibers attached thereto, either in its raw or processed state.” Then there is personal property tax. This is a tax on tangible property. States vary on what items they might tax. Kansas is a state that has personal property taxes. Some of the things taxed were new appliances.
Around 1950, we got a “new and improved” electric refrigerator. The tax assessor came to our house to talk to my parents about our personal property. My dad told the gentleman about the new refrigerator and its size, the cubic foot description. I had just learned how to take measurements with my dad’s tape measure. I decided to be helpful and go measure it. I came back with the numbers of the exterior height and width. They didn’t seem the same as the number my dad had said. He tried to explain the cubic size and that it was interior, not the outside measurements. Needless to say, I embarrassed my dad with my actions and interruptions. Pretty sure I was sent to my room to play whenever the assessor came again!
