Chicago has the highest sales tax in the country with its newest sales tax increase and surprisingly, folks aren’t happy about it. So the politicians did what they always did – they argued about it. And here’s where it gets complicated. County Board President Todd Stroger had instituted the ordinance that actually raised the tax,…
The semester before I left for law school, my best friend, Bren, and I packed our stuff into my old Buick Regal (the former family car), affectionately named “Bessie” because she looked like a cow. We were on a mission to examine East Coast law schools that were still on my short list. It was…
We already knew that Chicago holds the distinction for the highest sales tax rate in the country… and apparently, it’s affected the population. Chicago also holds the top spot for tax filer procrastination. Who’s number 2? You’ll have to check out the list (psst – it’s not Philadelphia!).
Your tourist souvenirs in the Windy City just got a little more expensive. As of November 2008, Chicago will become the most expensive city in the United States for paying sales tax. Cook County voted to double the county sales tax to 1.75% putting Chicago’s total sales tax bite at a whopping 10.25%. That officially…
I’ve blogged before about how the government uses tax as a method of altering taxpayers’ behavior. Different governments tax cigarettes, sweets and fatty foods and other “unhealthy” or “sinful” behaviors (remember PETA’s efforts to tax meat?). But what happens when the behavior being taxed isn’t so blatantly bad for you as cigarettes or alcohol? What…