The California Assembly proposed Senate Bill 1400, introduced by Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D-Fremont), which would have limited the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to specified “tobacco stores,” that prohibit customers under the age of 21 and generate more than 60 percent of their annual revenue from tobacco. Sen. Wieckowski has said that the […]
The Needy, Greedy City
Mayor Jim Kenney was elected last year with a promise to bring universal prekindergarten to Philadelphia. With no way to pay for it, the Mayor needed a solution. So now, the City of Brotherly Love has implemented the soda tax. Originally proposed at 3 cents-per-ounce, the city council passed a tax half of that amount […]
Next on Hotel Hell: City of Baltimore
For eight consecutive years, the city-owned and operated Hilton Baltimore has lost money, $5.2 million in 2015. Baltimore’s economy has not been strong recently, and the riots following the Freddie Gray incident haven’t had a positive impact on the city’s tourist business. However, the Hilton was losing money well before the recent troubles. Instead of making $7 million a […]
The Marlboro Man and the Blue Light
The vapor product known as electronic cigarettes, “e-cigs,” first appeared on the market in 2007. Although the e-cig market is still smaller than traditional cigarettes, sales grew by 23 percent in 2014 and are expected to surpass the cigarette market within the next decade.
Running Down the Clock on Internet Taxes
Nothing like waiting until the last minute to do something important. That is exactly what is happening on the Hill this week. The Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) is set once again to expire at midnight on December 11, 2015. Since 1992, when the general public was given access to the Internet, the use of […]
Congress Impounds Obama’s Cadillac Tax
Yesterday in the Senate, legislators voted 90-10 in support of the Heller Amendment that would preemptively repeal the so-called ‘Cadillac Tax’ on employee health plans. CAGW spoke out in November on some of the unfair taxes on individuals and families in the ACA. The Cadillac tax is a 40% tax on health insurance plans over […]
IRS Commissioner Impeached by House Committee
Since the U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1789, the House of Representatives has filed articles of impeachment just 17 times and only eight times did the Senate convict. Alexander Hamilton wrote that impeachment should be reserved for “those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men, or, in other words, from the abuse or violation of some public trust.”
Time Wasting Away With Internet Tax Ban Set to Expire
On December 16, 2014, the Internet Tax Freedom Act was temporarily extended in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 83), keeping the ban on Internet access taxes in place until September 30, 2015. Unfortunately, time is once again running out and only the House of Representatives has taken any action on the ban, this time making it permanent.
Clarity Needed in Taxation of Digital Goods
With technology changing the way consumers listen and view music and videos, state and local governments are now looking toward taxation of digital goods and services to increase their tax revenues. Currently, 17 states require by statute that taxes be paid on digital goods and services, and another eight states plus the District of Columbia […]
The Unfair “Fairness” Act
It is disingenuous to call something fair and equitable when it is clearly not. This is the case with both S. 698, the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2015 (MFA), and the Remote Transaction Parity Act (RTPA), introduced on June 15, 2015 by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah). Both bills purport to bring “equity” between the taxation […]