STUMP » Articles » Taxing Tuesday: Will Tax Increases Kill Small Businesses? » 16 July 2019, 17:04

Where Stu & MP spout off about everything.

Taxing Tuesday: Will Tax Increases Kill Small Businesses?  

by

16 July 2019, 17:04

We should probably consider minimum wage increases as tax increases, too.

Illinois tax hikes could kill small businesses, expert warns

As of Monday [July 1], Illinois drivers face a much higher fuel tax Opens a New Window. , which could spell bad news not only for drivers – but also for small businesses in the area.

The state doubled its gas tax to 38 cents per gallon, up from 19 cents per gallon – which had been the rate since 1990.
….
But the new gas tax – in addition to tax hikes on other items like cigarettes – could spell trouble for some of the state’s small businesses, which are already fighting for their lives.

Bill Fleischli, executive vice president of the Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association/Illinois Association of Convenience Stores, said in a statement to FOX Business that the taxes “have put the Independent Illinois Petroleum Marketer on the endangered species list.”

“Our customers will cross borders, and when they do, they not only purchase fuel, but other ancillary items, costing state tax dollars and company profits,” Fleischli said in a statement. “There will be a 6 percent to 10 percent loss of motor fuel volume over 2 to 3 years, and a 7 percent to 10 percent loss of inside sales in the same timeframe.”

That’s Illinois.

Why not look at where I actually live?

Latimer: [Westchester] County sales tax increase won’t hurt mom and pop businesses

The 1% sales tax increase that goes into effect in most Westchester County communities on Aug. 1 won’t have an effect on mom and pop businesses in those communities, County Executive George Latimer said during an event at Greenburgh Town Hall on July 8.

More than 40 state, county and local officials gathered with Latimer to praise the equalization of sales taxes at 8.375% throughout the county, except for Yonkers which will remain at 8.875%.

Latimer said that people don’t make shopping decisions based on small differences in sales tax rates.

“When you shop locally in the town you live in you generally shop there because it’s physically convenient to you. When you make the decision to drive a further distance of any sort it’s because you’re looking for diversity of product or you’re looking not just to find one product in one kind of store but a series of things that you might find in a mall or defined shopping area,” Latimer said.

“That mom and pop store that you talk about in that community oftentimes is close to you physically and secondly it represents a storeowner who knows your personal preferences and when you go in they greet you warmly.”

It will have no effect on my shopping habits, as I primarily shop in Danbury, CT.

Sales tax in Danbury: 6.35%. Which is all state sales tax.

I did look, and the other place I do a lot of shopping, Putnam County, has the same sales tax rates as Westchester. Anyway, I buy all my gas in CT and do most of my shopping in CT. As I use most of the gas in CT, that seems reasonable.

Oh, and the bond rating agencies are happy, so I guess that’s all that matters.

Finally, it’s not a 1% tax increase. It’s a one percentage point increase, which is a a 13.6% increase.

TAX STORIES

I may look at the digital tax issue more next week. Depends on how much France wants to keep it.

TAX TWEETS


So here’s a question — who are the people who supposedly paid more in taxes under Trump?

I would like to know more about them (and exactly how much more they’re paying.)

Also: SALT cap zero! Woo!





Can’t say I’m surprised.


No, thanks, I already follow enough boring accounts.


Cardi B has student loans to pay off? Shouldn’t she have managed that by now?


By the way, these aren’t too new — the guys at Powerline have been pulling at the loose thread, where it looks like Ilhan Omar filed at least two years of tax returns as married filing jointly… with somebody she wasn’t married to (at that time).


See y’all next week!


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