New California Law Taxes You On The Wood You Buy
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It seems as though a new tax has gone into effect here in California that adds an additional 1% in taxes on the price of certain wood products sold in the state. 1% might not seem like much, but when you add that onto the state sales tax, and the local sales tax, it all adds up. What is worse is that, according to retailers, the tax code is confusing and is costing them money.
Retailers have to go through each product they sell to determine if it needs to be taxed more, and if it does they need to adjust it in their system. But implementing this new tax code has not been easy for retailers because what is taxable and what isn't is not very clear to them. Because of this, it is costing them time and money. If a product is sold without the tax being collected and the store is audited, they will have to pay the tax themselves.
What does this new tax do to the price of the things we buy? You might not be one to go out and buy raw lumber or sheet goods, but you probably buy furniture and you might want to buy a house or a building for your business. As if the housing industry was not hit hard enough. The prices of these taxes always get passed along to the consumer.
The wood tax might also have unforeseen consequences in making non-wood substitutes more economical. For example, wood decking, wood siding, wood shingles, wood fencing, wood railing all have a 1% tax disadvantage compared to the PVC, vinyl, or metal equivalents. I wonder how the environmentalists feel about a vinyl state.
Actions always have consequences, sometimes good and sometimes bad, in the case of lawmakers, their actions always seem to lead us into a bad way. The state of California is a good example of what happens when the government tries to do too much. Just look at the budget deficits the state is running to see the results. But the State still has to run, and to do so they need tax money. I think former California Governor Ronald Reagan said it best when he gave the government's view of the economy, "If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."
How can I be proud to live in a state where everything that moves is taxed? I can't. Just like I can choose between Bosch, DeWalt, Makita, Milwaukee, etc. for tools, I can also choose between California, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, etc for where to live.
