Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Tax the renter!

Travis Fain has a list of things you'll be taxed for under the Glenn Tax. The following are things which will lose their exempt status and be opened to taxation ...

Exemptions for property/services to households:
sale of lottery tickets
rooms and lodging over 90 days (Whammy. That means you pay sales taxes on apartment rent.)
sales of water through water lines
personal property brought into Georgia
credit allowances for trade-ins on property
charges for public transportation
charges for long distance telephone service
sales of food for home consumption (remember, though, the Speaker has talked about an offsetting income tax credit for people under a certain income threshold.)
sales of sod grass

Exemptions related to health care:
purchase of medical equipment - Medicare and Medicaid
sales of prescription drugs and medical devices (again, with a potential income tax credit to offset)
sales of certain equipment used by diabetics

Exemptions related to farming and fishing:
sales of equipment uised in harvesting lumber
sales of agricultural machinery
sales of LPG used for horticultural purposes (LPG = liquified petroleum gas)
sales of certain dyed diesel fuels
certain sales of LPG and other fuels
certain sales of electricity

Professional and business services:
fees for service rendered by repair professionals

Exemptions related to non-farm business:
sale of electricity used in manufacturing
sale of machinery used in manufacturing
sale material handling equipment used in warehouses
sale of machinery used to reduce pollution (The environmentalists will love this one.)
use of cargo containers for international shipping
gross revenue from coin operated amusement machines
rental of films when admissions is charged
exemptions for clean rooms
sales of machinery used in aircraft engines and parts
sales of replacement parts for machinery
certain sales or leases of computer equipment
film production and digital broadcasting

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

To quote President Barlet:

"If we don't fix the public schools, and I mean right now..."

Tax the renters?

Please don't tell me you're old enough to vote and drive a car and everything, and you don't know that renters ALWAYS pay txes .

4:12 PM  
Blogger griftdrift said...

We should make a corresponding list with each lobby which will come out against each line item. That would be quite interesting.

4:29 PM  
Blogger Jmac said...

If you mean that this cost is passed on from the landlord to the renter, then yes. However, that's a tax on the value of the property and any relative income they receive from said property.

This is a tax directly levied on the renter, which, as is pretty clear, is something that doesn't currently exist.

Kinda like taxes on prescription drugs or child care.

4:31 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Now that we have some details, we may be able to add some voices beyond the local control issue. Lots of stuff to chew on over the next month or two. However, this list seems smaller than the list of exemptions. So, Beer Job #1: find out what isn't being advertised.

Has anyone considered the federal income tax effects of this shift? Last I checked, individuals can deduct either state/local income or sales (not both) taxes as part of itemized deductions. Property taxes are also deductible.

So basically, property owners who pay enough mortgage interest to itemize, and also deduct property taxes, shouldn't make a clean getaway with these changes.

Renters may want to itemize their sales taxes now, though. Save all receipts, etc. $5350 (in '06) is largely unreachable, but a 10% floor for deductible sales tax is not difficult: $800/mo rent + $20/mo water bill (before drought rate restructuring) + $300/mo food == 1120/mo == 537/yr. new sales tax @ 4%.

5:23 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Also, I'm glad to see the state government intends to reclaim some of the enormous amounts of assistance granted to MARTA over the years.

5:31 AM  

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