Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Been thinking of the rumors that they are going to abolish Income Tax here in Maine. I can see the masses jumping up and down with joy. But the money has to come from somewhere. They'll get it one way and another.. not sure how at this point. I think of New Hampshire with no sales tax.. The state my sister used to live in. When her Real Estate tax reached 8500 a year she packed up and moved to Florida. Seems to me that it's just a move to get the wealthy to pay less on their money and put the burden on the lower income earners. Just what we need in Piscatiquis and Washington counties where most people are just scraping by. Can almost see 5 or 10 years later when they decide they probably should reinstate it. If this becomes a reality sooner or later their going to hold our feet to the fire. Just an opinion.. anybody have any ideas whats going on?
Eliminating an income tax and relying solely on a sales tax would be the best way to fund state government anywhere, including the federal government. Income tax codes can be manipulated and loaded with loopholes to benefit the politically well connected. The governor here in Ohio who is just as nutty as LePage restructured the tax code so the bottom 20% pays $61/year more and the 1%ers pay $10,000 less.
It all depends on how the sales tax is implemented. IF a sales tax excludes the following: food, medicine, fuel/oil, utilities, and the other necessities, it is not necessarily regressive. IF the tax is on everything, of course the poor, and low income would be affected. Some states have a "sin" tax on alcohol and tobacco, since everyone knows these two items cost state Medicaid programs large amounts of money.
Everyone should have to pay SOMETHING to support the government... and that means every tax used to do so. That gives everyone a stake in the cost/benefit analysis involved in spending taxpayer money. That's the problem with the income tax. Many don't pay it. So, I think a sales or value added tax is a great idea.
Maine Income Tax was instituted in 1969, the same year as Municipal Revenue Sharing. The theory was the State would collect Income Tax statewide and distribute it to Municipalities and therefore reduce the impact of real estate taxes on Locals. Fast forward to today and the State basically has eliminated most of the Revenue Sharing to Municipalities and is spending the money other ways. We are getting ripped off now and they should eliminate the State Income Tax if they are not going to do Revenue Sharing.
This link will tell you way more than you'll ever want to know about taxes in Maine.
Been thinking of the rumors that they are going to abolish Income Tax here in Maine. I can see the masses jumping up and down with joy. But the money has to come from somewhere. They'll get it one way and another.. not sure how at this point. I think of New Hampshire with no sales tax.. The state my sister used to live in. When her Real Estate tax reached 8500 a year she packed up and moved to Florida. Seems to me that it's just a move to get the wealthy to pay less on their money and put the burden on the lower income earners. Just what we need in Piscatiquis and Washington counties where most people are just scraping by. Can almost see 5 or 10 years later when they decide they probably should reinstate it. If this becomes a reality sooner or later their going to hold our feet to the fire. Just an opinion.. anybody have any ideas whats going on?
If that happens, your reasoning is right on. In Mass., "gov" is talking about the same thing...lowering income tax and sales tax....which affect retirees and seniors relatively less....and upping the property tax, which affects retirees and seniors much more (even many who are mortgage-free will suffer, as retirement/senior income doesn't generally rise). The general "movements" in the richer states are to make wealthy people wealthier and less wealthy people even less so.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
