If you ask a Mainer about taxes, you’re liable to get an earful: Mainers have one of the highest tax burdens in the nation. Nonetheless, on election day, Maine voters turned down proposals to cut taxes.
In a slow economy, Maine voters were leery of a proposal that would result in cuts in services. The controversial ballot issue, Question 4, asked voters if they wanted to limit future increases in state and local government spending and taxes to the rate of inflation plus population growth. The measure was known as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights campaign, or TABOR. Those opposed to the measure referred to it as “TABOR II” since a similar proposal was turned down in 2006.
Those in support of TABOR claimed that the bill would put more money back in taxpayer’s pockets. Critics wondered what the actual result of would be, as many state and local services were already facing cuts. Public schools are already operating under frozen budgets.
Voters also rejected a proposal to cut excise taxes on some vehicles and exempt hybrid and fuel-efficient vehicles from sales tax. Measures to encourage the purchase of cleaner cars are popular in states like Colorado but critics feared that tax cuts would have to be made up somewhere else. In that way, it wasn’t so much a tax cut as a shift in taxation.
While tax measures on the ballots were overshadowed by publicity over questions about making medical marijuana more available (yes) and gay marriage legal (no), the tax votes may be indicative of the mood of the nation on the eve of a huge election year… Only time will tell.
Here’s a novel way to avoid paying tax: kidnap the tax collectors.
In what may be the oddest tax news I’ve read recently, the online paper, Sindh Today, has reported that an Indian man may be charged with kidnapping after he allegedly attempted to abduct two excise officers. According to reports, the driver slowed at the toll barrier in Patiala’s Rajpura to talk with the officials. He then reportedly pushed the tax officials into his car and sped off (no, I can’t figure out how he did it, either). There was no report as to his plans for them.
The driver eventually lost control of the car and ran into a tree. All of the occupants were taken to the hospital.
Charges are pending against the driver, and the investigation continues.
It’s Fix the Tax Code Friday! This week, health care reform is in the news again, this time with a focus on the proposed excise tax for high-premium insurance plans.
The latest proposal for health care reform includes a controversial excise tax for high-premium insurance plans which exceed certain thresholds. Much of the concern, especially as put forth by union groups, focuses on the idea is that the thresholds are too low.
The proposed threshold are $8,000 for a single person or $21,000 for a family per year. For workers in high-risk jobs and retirees over the age of 55, they are $9,850 for a single person and $26,000 for a family per year.
So today’s Fix the Tax Code Friday question is:
After you cast your vote, sound off below!
In case you’ve been spending a few too many late nights awake, you can read the current Senate Finance Proposal here. It will download as a pdf.
This week, 157 House Democrats (which for math junkies like me, who want to know the actual percentage of House Dems who signed, it’s 62%) signed a letter which put House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on notice that an excise tax on high-cost health care insurance plans is not acceptable. Those who signed the letter believe the tax will hurt many middle class families.
So what exactly is the excise tax? Here’s the scoop: Max Baucus (D-MT) has proposed a 40% tax on so-called “Cadillac” employment-based health insurance plans. Currently, the proposal would define those high-cost plans as plans which exceed $8,000 for a single person or $21,000 for a family per year. The tax would apply to the amount over the cap. So, for example, a $10,000 plan for a single person would be subject to an excise tax of $800 (40% of the overage).
All taxes involve some kind of “and, if or but” and this one is no exception. The cap is raised for plans for workers in high-risk jobs and retirees over the age of 55. Those caps would be $9,850 for a single person and $26,000 for a family per year.
I was astonished to see those kinds of numbers. Those caps for health care benefits are equal to roughly twice the annual salary for minimum wage employees. Surely, those would be reserved for the top 1 or 2% of employees. Not so. The Joint Committee on Taxation has estimated that those caps would still affect 15% of employment-based health insurance plans in the first year alone. That’s a lot of taxpayers.
My gut is that if the excise tax does go forward, we’re going to see those caps go up significantly. But I also believe that if the cap goes away completely, everyone goes back to the table to start from (nearly) scratch. Paying for health care reform is a huge part of the bill and without that piece, it’s not going to move forward. In fact, President Obama has indicated that he will not sign a version of the bill which increases the deficit.
So all eyes on Pelosi to see what the response will be… I’ll keep you posted!
