Washington State Launches Sales Tax on Sin Products

Washington State is another jurisdiction hurting for tax revenues. To fund its spending, Washington is instituting new sales tax on what are commonly called sin products.

I often laugh at the nature of the tax debate in this county. People scream and yell over whether taxes are going to be raised by the federal government. While this is going on, the same people completely miss the fact that the state they are in is passing huge tax increases that affect them every single day. This is the case in Washington.

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The state has a $3 billion dollar budget deficit. This is laughably small compared to other states like California and Arizona. Still, it is a deficit and one the state needs to deal with. Instead of cutting its expenditures, of course, the state has chosen to tax its citizens yet again. To hide its odious actions, the state hasn’t passed one big tax, but a bunch of small ones.

The new taxes are sales tax increases on various products. There isn’t just one new tax, there are a host of them. For instance, a pack of cigarettes will run you an extra dollar now. Candy? There’s a new 6.5 percent sales tax on those. Beer? A six pack will cost you an additional 6.5 percent as well. In fact, anything that is remotely considered a “sin product” is getting hit. They are even taxing gum!

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The reaction of Washington is no different than most states. The collapsing economy has resulted in a shortfall of tax revenues from property and what have you. The sad thing is that when the economy improves, you can be sure the states won’t repeal these emergency taxes they are passing. Instead, they’ll go to waste like always happens with governments large and small.

Will the Washington state sales tax on sin products close the budget deficit? I doubt it. Time and again, it has been shown that people react to new sales tax by buying less, which reduces the revenues earned. The new taxes will help, but they aren’t a cure by any stretch of the imagination.

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