Only in Georgia- taxing food

[wilt the stilt]

Tax council recommends grocery tax, lower income taxes



By Chris Joyner

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The special council charged with remodeling Georgia's tax code released its long-awaited recommendations Friday, including adding a 4 percent sales tax to groceries for the first time in 15 years.
Enlarge photo
The Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness recommends adding a 4 percent sales tax to groceries but lowering the personal income tax from its current 6 percent to 4 percent by 2014.
Bita Honarvar, [e-mail] The Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness recommends adding a 4 percent sales tax to groceries but lowering the personal income tax from its current 6 percent to 4 percent by 2014.
Related


http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/tax-council-recommends-grocery-797997.html


I'm so proud to be part of this god forsaken state. We are going back to taxing food. Is debtor prison next?

God I hate this place.

[walldude]

1. Only in Georgia? I don't think so.

I live in Colorado and have been paying tax on food for 20 years.

[salvorhardin]

6. How does that work for SNAP (food stamp) recipients?

Is tax assessed on the food they buy too?

[walldude]

10. I would assume it is...

But I'm not down to food stamps.. yet. I just came back with a loaf of bread.. 3.7% tax. Oh and 3 bucks for the loaf of bread. Ugh. Yesterday I paid almost 3 bucks a pound for tomato's. Shit is getting expensive.

[SharonAnn]

20. In Tennessee there's a sales tax on food. It's over 7%.

[liberal N proud]

2. Many states charge taxes on food

[ChazII]

5. Parts of Arizona

place a tax on food.

[PeaceNikki]

3. Several states do

http://www.cbpp.org/cms/?fa=view&id=1230

[hlthe2b]

16. It is a local tax in Colorado, which some cities waive--Denver included

So, if I go outside Denver City-County, I will likely be charged tax on groceries. Even in Denver, you are charged tax for food that is prepared, whether in a restaurant or in the whole foods deli (whole paycheck)....

[blindpig]

4. Not so

In SC Nikki Haley wants to reinstate the sales tax on food, which was deep sixed only a few years ago, about the only decent thing that this legislature has done for the people in my experience. She also wants to eliminate the state corporate income tax. The only hope is that she will be as repulsive to the legislatures as Sanford her mentor was and gridlock ensues.

[napi21]

11. One of the things I found when I lived in SC was the max sales tax on a vehicle

was $300! It didn't matter what vehicle you bought, even if it cost $60,000 or $120,000! The state could collect a lot more by joining the rest of the world and taxing vehicle purchases at a % of te sales price than they would by taxing food which mainly hurts the low income people!

[blindpig]

17. SC: regressive is us!

Damn near everything is stacked in favor of the well off, and while that is pretty much true everywhere in Capital-Land here it is really in your face. Government by, of and for the rich.

[Gormy Cuss]

12. So another state may follow GA's lead and return to a repugnant, regressive tax.

Eliminating state corporate tax and reinstating the food sales tax is even more despicable that GA's move.

[blindpig]

19. We got a rep to maintain.

The race to the bottom is ever more competitive, capitalism on steriods.

[GoCubsGo]

36. Actually, there's another hope, too.

I'm hoping she'll emulate her BFFE, Sarah, and quit after two years. I have a hunch she's not going to get along with the state legislature any better than her mentor. Some of those in her own party actively campaigned for Vince Sheheen, IIRC. It will be an interesting four years, to say the least.

I don't recall the legislature doing anything else decent for the people, either.

[somone]

7. Other states have been taxing groceries for years:

It is a regressive tax, and it is a bad idea.

[nc4bo]

15. Why isn't North Carolina listed? We most certainly do tax our food here. nt

[former9thward]

25. North Carolina does not have a state tax on food

but they have a 2% local tax on food. The tax goes to local governments.

[nc4bo]

28. ah, ok. I guess I'd like to know how to find out how many counties/cities have food tax then

and then count our blessings that the state doesn't drop an additional food tax ontop of what we already have.

[hfojvt]

18. I sorta like they way they do it in Kansas

In one sense it is not fair to make Kansas dark red in that picture. Kansas has a food sales tax rebate. A family making less than $35,000 gets a rebate of $45 per person (which is $726 worth of groceries per person per year). A family making less than $17,500 gets $90 per person ($1451 worth of groceries tax free). One catch is that the rebate only goes to 1. the disabled, 2. families with children, and 3. people over age 55. Thus, if you are over 55 and married and make $34,000 a year you get a $90 rebate. If, like myself, you are single, childless, 48 and make $13,000 a year, then you get nothing.

But to an extent, in this way Kansas is getting revenue from wealthier people when they buy groceries. If they got rid of the sales tax on groceries, most of the benefits of that change would goto the wealthy.

They ought, however, to a. get rid of the restrictions, allowing the single, young and childless to get a break and b. increase the amounts.

With a Republican legislature and Republican governor though, that is not gonna happen.

[gmoney]

21. How's the rebate scheme working?

That's what the "Fair Taxers" are touting as their proof it's not overly burdensome to the poor.

Of course, they say it will "eliminate the IRS" but someone in the gummint is going to have to manage the rebates, verify number of people in households, and stay on top of every business to be sure they're collecting the tax and turning it all over to the gummint. Sounds like it will take just as much paperwork.

One said it would only apply to "new" merchandise which seems a little odd. Stores that sell new and used will have to keep track of all that.

Another suggested that the tax could be waived for senior citizens... obviously, that won't work. I'd just have my father do all my shopping for me -- it could be a good grey market career for seniors whose pensions were dropped by their employers. Not to mention that many of the wealthiest people ARE senior citizens.

[hfojvt]

49. I would not compare this to the UnFairTax

the whole point of the UnFairTax is to drastically cut taxes for the rich and to increase them on the poor. In this case, if we got rid of the sales tax on food, it would be a much larger tax cut for the rich than it would be for the poor.

This is administered by the State IRS. You get the rebate on your Kansas Income Taxes.

I have previously written against the UnFairTax http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/55

[gmoney]

51. Right, I was just wondering how the rebates worked.

NOT an advocate of the "Fair Tax" at all... it's just that those who are act like the rebate fairy will magically put money under everyone's pillows, rather than it requiring a federal agency to administer and monitor for fraud.

[dixiegrrrrl]

26. I pay 9.5% tax on food and most everything else in our county.

Only those in Alabama who live near the Fla state line can save money by shopping in Fla, and only Pensacola is close enough and big enough to offer a variety of stores.
Otherwise we are now surrounded by food tax states.

[bluestate10]

44. Well.

The big taxers are red states. Go figure.

[Tesha]

50. Hmmmm... What can we conclude about most of these states...

...Oh yeah. The people (well, at least the white people in them) vote
for Republican "lower taxes".

Tesha

[Fumesucker]

8. One thing we are not here in GA is God forsaken..

There's a church on damn near every street corner and it seems like there's one in every other strip center now too, there's even one meeting in a public grammar school down the road from me.

We have plenty of God here in GA, in fact I think we'd be better off if God would actually forsake the place for a while.

[hobbit709]

29. But in how many of those churches do you actually see the words of Jesus followed?

[Lorien]

40. The problem is that To most Christians, the Bible is like a software license.

Nobody actually reads it. They just scroll to the bottom and click "I agree". If they did as Jesus instructed you would have the most Liberal State in the union.

[napi21]

9. That's the most regressive tax I know of! BFD that they lower personal

income taxes. The very poor don't have to pay pers. income taxes, and even those lower income people pay very little now. Taxing food, no matter what state it is is just wrong! Food & prescriptions, things that are mandatory for survival, shold be exempt!

[phasma ex machina]

24. +1

[NNN0LHI]

13. I don't remember a time when food wasn't taxed in Illinois

[lynne]

14. Consider yourself lucky. I've not known a time without food sales tax -

- in Virginia. I thought all states did it.

[Ilsa]

22. Please don't let the Texas legislature hear about this. nt

[zorahopkins]

23. Virginia Taxes Groceries

Virginia has a sales tax on food purchased in grocery stores.

Virginia also taxes clothing. Other states (Massachusetts, for instance) do not.

[Contrary1]

27. Well, as long as Junior's tax breaks aren't allowed to expire...

all is well. :eyes:

Be sure to ask your Repub acquaintances how they thought the states were gonna make up for the lost federal money.

Chances are, we will all be paying a lot more in state and local taxes.

[LuvNewcastle]

30. We've had taxes on food in MS for as long

as I can remember. It's taxed the same as a pair of jeans or socks. Groceries bought with food stamps are not taxed. Food bought at restaurants is taxed more, depending on the town.

[Recursion]

33. And in my town you couldn't buy cold beer

There are things I miss about Mississippi and things I don't...

[LuvNewcastle]

35. Did you live in Oxford, by any chance?

I lived there for a couple of years. The only time you could get cold beer there was at the Beer Barn during the Winter. And you had to drive into the next county if you wanted beer on Sunday. Good times.:sarcasm:

[Recursion]

43. The other one. Starkvegas

You couldn't buy cold beer, but they showed porno movies at the drive-in.

[trotsky]

31. It's just shoving the tax burden further down onto the poor.

Painfully obvious when it's accompanied by an income tax cut. Greedy heartless Repukes don't even pretend anymore. The poor will see their overall taxes go up. The wealthy will have their burden lowered. And their state will continue to suffer.

[Recursion]

32. Mississippi has always taxed groceries

I didn't realize that was considered weird until I went to college out of state. MS pretty much just makes you pay 5% on literally everything you buy, which at least has the virtue of simplicity.

[WinkyDink]

34. Another reason I love my PA.

[Shagbark Hickory]

37. Groceries are already taxed. I don't know what county you are in but

where I am, groceries are most definitely taxed at around 3%.

[maryf]

38. with the income tax drop

the rich will definitely make out, and the poor will be losing more as they likely get their income tax money back...tax on food is as bad as profit on health care...we should be screaming about this!

[Lorien]

39. Just another way of squeezing the poor while letting the wealthy get away

with not paying their fair share.

[Laelth]

47. +1 n/t

-Laelth

[AlabamaLibrul]

41. 10% between state, county, city on food here. Definitely not "only in Georgia"

end of transmission

[Quantess]

42. And Oregon doesn't have any sales tax, at all.

[cali]

45. I'm shocked. I didn't know any state taxed food

Vermont is always listed as a high tax state, but there are not a lot of regressive taxes.

[AlabamaLibrul]

53. It is, predictably, reich-wing "low tax" states that have double digit taxes on food

'cause fuck the poor.

[Laelth]

46. This is truly repulsive. I wish I could say I was surprised. n/t

-Laelth

[Phentex]

48. This is not new to Georgia...just reinstated....

I wonder how Nathan Deal is going to swallow this?

[spanone]

52. they tax groceries in tennessee...damned near 10%