The answer to the question posed in the title of this posting is, “Because they are the Taxing Authority and they can”.
In many respects taxation is only limited by our various governmental agencies’ ability to think of something to tax. I mentioned in a blog posting once before that Medieval European Taxing Authorities once levied a tax on the Windows in their constituent’s homes. The people “rebelled” and started bricking up their windows. I don’t know this for a fact but I do wonder if Ye Ole Medieval Taxing Authority started taxing bricks.
A Sales Tax is...
A tax imposed by the government at the point of sale on retail goods and services.
Or is it?
Enter from stage left The State of California. Why is California special? That’s because these people really know how to tax. They also know how to spend more than they tax. In their small minds this means they need to impose more taxes because they must not have taxed enough in the first place. A good example is the California Cell Phone.
We are all familiar with phone companies selling the actual phones themselves for a reduced price to get customers to sign with them for cell phone service. The phones themselves are, many times, greatly reduced in price. The Californian Minion then pays his 8.25% Sales Tax on the greatly reduced price...Or does he?
There is a bureaucrat in California that got a big bonus because he came up with the idea of charging the sales tax on the real value. In California, if you pay $30 for a $400 phone, you pay tax on $400 ($33) not on $30 ($4.75). That’s almost 7 times more money into California’s Coffers.
Does California even bother to “justify” this tax levy? Actually it does. Their explanation is that the phone company gives this reduced price because they recoup the real value of the phone by requiring the buyer to sign a long term contract. The California Taxing Authority says it is only getting it’s just due (whatever that means).
Want to analyze this “justification” with me for a bit? Think about it. The State of California also charges a Sales Tax on Each Monthly Payment made by the minion. That means California gets it’s just due 8.25% sales tax twice.
Ever wonder why California’s Minions don’t rebel? The reason is they are afraid to make their Taxing Authority mad at them. If they get mad at them, they might raise their taxes or, even worse, impose a Rebellion Tax.
Would I kid u?
