The beginning of summer often means cookouts, trips to the shore and camping. For many (including my parents), it also means the beginning of hurricane season.
Hurricane season begins June 1 and lasts through the end of October. Thankfully, NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) forecasters predict a nearly normal Atlantic hurricane season for 2009. They still caution, however, that it is important to be prepared.
Many states and localities offer sales tax holidays on hurricane preparedness supplies. The first one to make the announcement this year is Virginia: Virginia’s sales tax holiday for hurricane preparedness begins tomorrow (Memorial Day) and continues through next Sunday.
Virginia retailers will not charge sales tax on items that can be used to prepare homes to withstand hurricanes and floods and to fill emergency supply kits. In general, this includes generators costing $1,000 or less, and other supplies costing $60 or less. Bottled water (including flavored water) and water storage containers also qualify for the sales tax exemption.
For a complete list of exempt items, check out this bulletin from the state of Virginia (it downloads as a pdf).
The following week, beginning on Saturday, May 30, and lasting through Sunday, May 31, marks Louisiana’s hurricane preparedness sales tax holidays. On these two days, shoppers can purchase specified emergency supplies sales tax free.
During the two-day holiday, tax-free purchases are allowed for the first $1,500 of the sales price of items such as self-powered light sources (including flashlights and candles – note that candles are not exempt in Virginia), portable self-powered radios, two-way radios, and weather-band radios and batteries.
The 2009 Louisiana Hurricane Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday does not extend to items or supplies purchased at airports, public lodging establishments, hotels, convenience stores, or entertainment complexes.
For a complete list of exempt items, check out this flyer from the state of Louisiana (it downloads as a pdf).
As more states make announcements, I’ll post them here. Expect a short list this year. Last year, Florida announced that it would not have a hurricane preparedness sales tax holiday due to budget constraints – I haven’t heard word yet on whether it will change for this year. Other states hard hit by budget woes in hurricane prone areas include North and South Carolina, and Georgia – I’ll post announcements from those states once I receive them.
Image courtesy of NOAA through Wikimedia
Following in the footsteps of a handful of other governors, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has indicated that she will take only 55% of the federal economic stimulus money being offered to Alaska. If that sounds like fiscal responsibility, don’t get too excited. Per capita, Alaska already receives more federal funding than any other state in the country, an honor held since 1999.
Included in the rejected funds are $160 million for education (including money for special ed services); $17 million in Department of Labor funds (vocational rehabilitation services, unemployment services, etc.); $9 million for Health and Social Services and about $7 million for Public Safety.
Critics held a protest yesterday to oppose rejection of the funds which Palin announced on Thursday. However, Palin’s budget director, Karen Rehfeld, seemed to contradict the governor, saying that the administration hasn’t yet rejected a single dollar of the stimulus funding.
The governors of Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas have also signaled that they will pass on stimulus money.
It was a historic day on yesterday with the election of President Elect Barack Obama. It’s almost easy to forget that there were other elections and ballot issues to consider but voters in some states faced a laundry list of issues. Among those were several state tax measures, including:
In Arkansas: Voters supported an amendment to the Arkansas Constitution which, among things, eliminated a reference to the poll tax.
In Colorado: Voters said no on several tax measures, including a state sales tax increase. Amendment 58, which would end a property tax credit for Colorado’s oil and gas industry and boost severance tax revenue by $321 million a year – seven companies, including Chevron and Conoco each contributed $1 million towards the opposition campaign. Severance taxes are imposed on minerals extracted from the state, or “severed,” to compensate for nonrenewable resources.
In Florida: Voters defeated Amendment 8, which would have authorized counties to ask voters if they want to increase the sales tax for up to five years to aid the local community college. Voters approved Amendment 4, which would give conserved property a lower tax assessment; the amendment also eliminates property taxes on lands placed in a perpetual conservation easement.
In Louisiana: Voters said no to a bill that would dedicate additional state severance taxes to parishes (like counties) of origin (See Colorado above).
In Maine: Voters approved a measure vetoing a new tax on beer, wine and soft drinks, which would help finance a state health care program.
In Massachusetts: Voters rejected another measure that would have cut, and then eliminated, the state’s personal income tax. A similar measure was rejected in 2002.
In North Dakota: Voters rejected an income tax cut. Measure 2 would have cut income taxes in half and corporate income taxes by 15%.
In Nevada: Voters shot down an attempt by the Nevada Legislature to amend or repeal the sales and use tax without voter approval.
In Oklahoma: Voters overwhelmingly approved an exemption from personal property tax for injured veterans and veterans’ surviving spouses. Voters also approved a measure that would require a person or business to file an application in order to receive a property tax exemption.
In Oregon: Voters said yes to an exemption that required 50% voter turnout to pass property tax increase measures. Voters turned down a measure that would have allowed federal taxes paid to be deducted from Oregon taxable income.
(Note: Findings were based on local newspaper and media reports. If you have additional information, please share!)
A number of folks who do not believe that there is a law that requires taxpayers to pay an income tax have left comments throughout the site, accusing me and other tax professionals of blind ignorance. Now, I don’t mind a sound difference of opinion or a good debate, but this is my blog and I expect a little respect for the folks that stop by my site. If I let your comments stand, you should respect the rights of others to disagree with you. That means keep it civilized. No finger pointing. No name calling. No outright rudeness. Start your own blog if you want to attack others. If you’re confused, read my comment policy.
Most of the comments about tax evasion tend to focus on what is perceived as “sheep mentality” of taxpayers. They are packed with a lot of the “did you even read?” variety. They also largely center around the arguments made by Tommy Cryer. So, to answer the cries of “did you read?”, the answer is “of course I did”, as did most of my colleagues.
And for those of you who haven’t yet read the infamous memorandum, here it is, in full. Enjoy.
