Don't understand Idaho's high taxes (buying, casino, deductible)

[Carlyee3]

Originally Posted by volosong

Good stuff! Will take awhile to completely digest. Thanks for providing the link to this report.

A good report that supports my impressions. Taxes are generally low in ID. Even the much maligned Property tax does not seem out of line to me when I compare it to OR or NV. The Homeowner's exemption helps here.

[mpsouth]

19th best business tax climate out of 51? I'd consider that to be pretty good.

[eqttrdr]

Idaho even has a "Tan Tax"....LOL

[banjomike]

Idaho nay be a state that has a good tax climate for big business, but Idaho doesn't make things very easy for small businesses. I can say that from long personal experience.

[mpsouth]

Sales Tax Collection per capita --- There are only 14 states with a lower amount (4 of those don't have a sales tax). West of the Mississippi River, only Alaska is lower.

[pnwguy2]

The truth is, and many have hit this on the head previously in this thread, is that every State will tax you. Your individual circumstance may make some States more favorable, but if you are in the middle class, or anywhere near that, you are going to be hit regardless of where you are. Some States have no income tax. Guess what? They have high sales tax. Some States have no sales tax. Guess what? They have high income tax. And here is the real kicker: Most States have BOTH! It really is a no-win situation. Like I said, there are exceptions due to individual circumstances, but either way, they will find your money.

[gbioryl]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

The truth is, and many have hit this on the head previously in this thread, is that every State will tax you. Your individual circumstance may make some States more favorable, but if you are in the middle class, or anywhere near that, you are going to be hit regardless of where you are. Some States have no income tax. Guess what? They have high sales tax. Some States have no sales tax. Guess what? They have high income tax. And here is the real kicker: Most States have BOTH! It really is a no-win situation. Like I said, there are exceptions due to individual circumstances, but either way, they will find your money.

I am the OP and my point is that if Conservatives really truly believed in small government then the only tax would sales tax. You cannot be for small government and also believe in income or property tax. So WA is hardcore liberal and no income tax. Idaho is hardcore Conservative and has every tax. It makes no sense.

[pnwguy2]

Well, you describe Washington State. No income, but high sales tax. If you are not working, then it is not a positive.

I live in the Tri-Cities, and frankly, many of my neighbors drive a half hour to Oregon to save on the sales tax. (I always wondered whether the gas to drive there might offset any gains tax-wise, especially now with lower gas prices, but so be it.)

Liquor is another animal. Those who choose to buy it will save by driving to Oregon or Idaho. The taxes on WA liquor are absurd due to privatization. This was promised to come down over the years, but I have seen no evidence of that. Liquor stores in Oregon (namely Portland, Hermiston) have gained many Washington dollars the past three years. As Idaho has, in Lewiston, Moscow, Post Falls. Washington should probably get their act together on this one.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Well, you describe Washington State. No income, but high sales tax. If you are not working, then it is not a positive.

I live in the Tri-Cities, and frankly, many of my neighbors drive a half hour to Oregon to save on the sales tax. (I always wondered whether the gas to drive there might offset any gains tax-wise, especially now with lower gas prices, but so be it.)

Liquor is another animal. Those who choose to buy it will save by driving to Oregon or Idaho. The taxes on WA liquor are absurd due to privatization. This was promised to come down over the years, but I have seen no evidence of that. Liquor stores in Oregon (namely Portland, Hermiston) have gained many Washington dollars the past three years. As Idaho has, in Lewiston, Moscow, Post Falls. Washington should probably get their act together on this one.

Take it to the bank that any vice that isn't controlled by the state will get a pile of taxes heaped on it, and will always get more whenever the state needs some more easy money.

Idaho once regulated everything with alcohol in it much more than now. The state government learned that privatization pays much better than regulation.
Don't count on our state liquor stores forever. Sooner or later, our state government will overcome their need to decide what's best of us themselves when they want more tax money, and they'll privatize our liquor sales.
The same thing will happen with marijuana after other states start showing the advantages of legalizing and taxing it.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see bordellos becoming a county option in the future again, either. Prostitution was a legal county option of a way to collect county taxes here until ca. 1969, when a passing morality fad swept through our Legislature. (I wasn't here when the laws changed, so I'm unsure of the exact year.)

Throughout our years as a Territory, and then as a State, Idaho had no more problems with legal prostitution than any of the other western states had, except for Utah. In fact, many of our largest cities pushed legalized prostitution as a way of lessening their county tax burden. Some of the old bordellos were in town, some outside, within the county limits. Some cities taxed the bordellos additionally, some didn't.

Since very single member of our Legislature wears a deep No New Tax brand on their forehead, about the only thing they can get away with are the sin taxes. No one complains about sin taxes.
That's why Idaho offers a hundred different lotteries, has allowed first beer and then wine to be sold on Sundays, why formerly dry counties are now becoming wet, and why we are having horse racing problems, and why cigarettes don't cost a buck a pack any more. If casino gambling wasn't so complicated, Idaho would have casinos that are the real deal. That's about the only bandwagon that wasn't completely jumped on, even though Idaho hitched a ride on the side rail of the wagon.

Washington got it's act together- they've made almost everything legal, and that hauls in a lot more tax money than regulation ever did. It's only a matter of time before Idaho comes around to the same realization.

[George Frankly]

Originally Posted by gbioryl

I am the OP and my point is that if Conservatives really truly believed in small government then the only tax would sales tax. You cannot be for small government and also believe in income or property tax. So WA is hardcore liberal and no income tax. Idaho is hardcore Conservative and has every tax. It makes no sense.

Your definitions make no sense to me - I would expect "small government" to relate to the amount of spending, not sources of revenue.