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Monday, February 16, 2015

Bet It Goes Up

Governor Dan Malloy announced that he wants to "cut" the sales tax to the lowest rate since 1971.  That's the headline, at least.  The reality is that Malloy says he wants to cut the state sales tax from 6.35% currently to 6.25% next year and 5.95% the following year.  That's a reduction of a big 0.4%.  In other words, if you buy something that costs two hundred dollars, the tax will go down by eighty cents.

Before Connecticut residents start celebrating, however, they need to hear the rest of the proposal.  Malloy wants to do away with unspecified exemptions from the sales tax.  In other words, those things that are not currently hit with the sales tax will soon get slammed with the tax.

Malloy bills his plan as "middle class tax relief".  More likely, it is a tax hike by getting rid of the exemptions and making a tiny reduction in the tax rate.  Think about the tax relief claim.  Let's say that the average middle class family purchases twenty-five thousand dollars of goods per year that are now subject to tax.  Malloy's tax relief for that family in 2016 amounts to twenty-five dollars.  That's not tax relief; it is a joke.  On the other hand, if that same family finds that a thousand dollars more of their purchases are subject to tax once the exemptions are removed, then they will pay about an additional sixty dollars in tax.  The net will be an increase in taxes.




 

2 comments:

fastcarken said...

Jeff not about this post, How long will it take State Department to finish analysis of The Keystone XL, It has already been 6 years in pproposal now that CONGRESS has approved it, How long can OBAMA get the State Department to Delay their final report of Our Countries Best Interest. see http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/11/us-usa-keystone-house-idUSKBN0LF2L420150211

Jeff said...

Fastcarken, the State Department can take as long as Obama wants. If Obama actually does not veto the legislation that approves Keystone, then there will be no need for the State Department to ever act. If Obama does issue a veto and that veto is not overridden (likely), then we will have to wait for State. At the moment, there is a new court case in Nebraska that could be used as an excuse for delay. There is also the possible involvement of the EPA that could be used as an excuse. But they are all excuses, nothing more. We are watching theater, not deliberation. My guess is that if there really is a veto, there will not be any movement on Keystone while Obama is in office.