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Source: https://taxlaw.review/feed/

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<title>TAX LAW</title>
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<title>Unlocking the Mysteries of Tax Law</title>
<link>https://taxlaw.review/unlocking-the-mysteries-of-tax-law/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Wilson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 17 Dec 2023 22:07:54 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Tax Law Income]]></category>
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<description><![CDATA[Tax law can be a complex and daunting subject, but it doesn’t have to be. Knowing the basics can help you understand the ins and outs of tax law and… ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Tax law can be a complex and daunting subject, but it doesn’t have to be. Knowing the basics can help you understand the ins and outs of tax law and make filing your taxes easier. Unlocking the mysteries of tax law can help you save money and get the most out of your tax return.
To understand tax law, it’s important to know the different types of taxes. The most common taxes are income taxes, which are taxes on money you earn from a job or other sources. Sales taxes are taxes on goods and services you buy. Property taxes are taxes on real estate or other property you own. Finally, there are excise taxes, which are taxes on specific items like gasoline or cigarettes.
In addition to understanding the different types of taxes, it’s important to know the different tax brackets. Tax brackets are based on your income and determine how much you owe in taxes. The higher your income, the higher your tax bracket and the more you owe. Knowing your tax bracket can help you plan your taxes and make sure you’re not paying more than you need to.
Once you understand the basics of tax law, you can start to look for deductions and credits that can help you save money. Deductions reduce the amount of income you owe taxes on, while credits reduce the amount of taxes you owe. Common deductions include student loan interest, medical expenses, and charitable donations. Common credits include the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.
It’s also important to know the deadlines for filing taxes. Generally, taxes are due by April 15th of each year. However, if you need more time to file, you can request an extension. You can also file for an extension online, which can be a convenient way to get more time to file.
Finally, it’s important to be aware of the penalties for not filing or paying taxes. Late filing penalties can be as much as 5% of the taxes due, while late payment penalties can be as much as 25%. It’s important to file and pay on time to avoid these penalties.
Unlocking the mysteries of tax law can help you save money and get the most out of your tax return. Knowing the different types of taxes, tax brackets, deductions, and credits can help you plan your taxes and make sure you’re not paying more than you need to. It’s also important to be aware of the deadlines for filing and the penalties for not filing or paying taxes on time. With a little bit of knowledge and planning, you can make the most of your taxes and keep more money in your pocket.
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<title>Understanding the Complexities of Tax Law</title>
<link>https://taxlaw.review/understanding-the-complexities-of-tax-law/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Wilson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 17 Nov 2023 22:05:21 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Tax Law Income]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://taxlaw.review/understanding-the-complexities-of-tax-law/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Tax law is a complex and ever-changing field of law that can be difficult to understand. The complexity of tax law is due to the fact that it is constantly… ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Tax law is a complex and ever-changing field of law that can be difficult to understand. The complexity of tax law is due to the fact that it is constantly changing and evolving, as well as the fact that it is heavily influenced by politics, economics, and other social factors. In order to understand the complexities of tax law, it is important to have an understanding of the different types of taxes, the different tax rates, and the various deductions and credits available.
The most common type of tax is an income tax, which is levied on the income of individuals and businesses. Income taxes are based on the amount of money an individual or business earns and can be progressive, meaning the higher the income, the higher the tax rate. Other types of taxes include property taxes, which are based on the value of property owned, and sales taxes, which are levied on goods and services. 
In addition to different types of taxes, there are also different tax rates. Tax rates can vary from state to state and even from city to city. In addition, tax rates can change depending on the type of income being taxed. For example, capital gains, which is income derived from the sale of investments, is typically taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income. 
In addition to different tax rates, there are also various deductions and credits available that can reduce the amount of taxes owed. Deductions are expenses that can be subtracted from taxable income to reduce the amount of taxes owed. Common deductions include mortgage interest, charitable donations, and state and local taxes. Credits, on the other hand, are amounts that can be subtracted from the amount of taxes owed. Common credits include the earned income tax credit, the child tax credit, and the American Opportunity Credit.
Finally, understanding the complexities of tax law also involves understanding the various laws and regulations governing taxes. Tax laws are often complicated and can be difficult to understand. For example, the tax code contains numerous provisions that can affect the amount of taxes owed, such as deductions, credits, and other tax provisions. In addition, the tax code also contains numerous rules and regulations that must be followed in order to ensure compliance with the law. 
Understanding the complexities of tax law can be difficult and overwhelming. However, with a basic understanding of the different types of taxes, the different tax rates, and the various deductions and credits available, it is possible to gain a better understanding of the tax system. In addition, consulting with a qualified tax professional can help to ensure that taxes are filed correctly and that all applicable laws and regulations are followed.
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<title>Navigating Tax Law for Beginners</title>
<link>https://taxlaw.review/navigating-tax-law-for-beginners/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Wilson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 18 Oct 2023 21:06:50 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Tax Law Income]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://taxlaw.review/navigating-tax-law-for-beginners/</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Navigating Tax Law for Beginners Tax law can be intimidating for those who are new to it. The sheer complexity of the law and the fact that it can be… ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Navigating Tax Law for Beginners 
Tax law can be intimidating for those who are new to it. The sheer complexity of the law and the fact that it can be difficult to understand can make it a daunting task for those who are just starting out. For those who are just beginning to explore the world of tax law, there are a few tips and tricks that can help make the process a bit easier.
The first tip is to make sure you understand the basics of tax law. It is important to have a good understanding of the different types of taxes, such as income tax, sales tax, property tax, and estate tax. This will help you to better understand the implications of different types of taxes and how they affect your finances. Additionally, it is important to understand the different deductions and credits that are available to you. Knowing what deductions and credits you are eligible for can help you to save money on your taxes.
Second, it is important to stay organized when dealing with taxes. Keeping track of your income, deductions, and credits is essential for filing your taxes correctly. It is also important to keep track of any changes to the tax code that may affect your taxes. Staying organized will help you to avoid any mistakes that could lead to penalties or other problems.
Third, it is important to consult with a tax professional if you are unsure about any aspect of your taxes. A tax professional can help you understand the complexities of the tax code and can help you to make sure you are taking advantage of all the deductions and credits that you are eligible for. Additionally, a tax professional can help you to understand the implications of any changes that have been made to the tax code.
Fourth, it is important to stay up to date on the latest developments in the tax code. The tax code is constantly changing and it is important to stay on top of any changes that may affect your taxes. This can be done by reading up on the latest news in the tax world or by following the IRS website. Additionally, you can also sign up for newsletters or other forms of communication from the IRS to stay informed about any changes that may affect your taxes.
Finally, it is important to remember that tax law is complex and it is important to take the time to understand it. Taking the time to educate yourself on the various aspects of tax law can help you to better understand how the tax code affects your finances. Additionally, it can help you to make sure that you are taking advantage of all the deductions and credits that you are eligible for.
Navigating tax law for beginners can be an intimidating task. However, by following these tips and tricks, you can make the process a bit easier. Understanding the basics of tax law, staying organized, consulting with a tax professional, staying up to date on the latest developments in the tax code, and taking the time to educate yourself can all help you to better understand the complexities of the tax code and to make sure that you are taking advantage of all the deductions and credits that you are eligible for.
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<title>Phoenix Suns getting ‘nice one’ in Damion Lee, tweets Stephen Curry</title>
<link>https://taxlaw.review/phoenix-suns-getting-nice-one-in-damion-lee-tweets-stephen-curry/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Wilson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jul 2022 15:51:11 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Luxury Tax law]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://taxlaw.review/?p=24165</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Stephen Curry feverishly hopped up and down with a few of his teammates immediately after Golden State defeated Boston in Game 6 to win the 2022 NBA Finals. One was… ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
Stephen Curry feverishly hopped up and down with a few of his teammates immediately after Golden State defeated Boston in Game 6 to win the 2022 NBA Finals.
One was his Splash bro, Klay Thompson.
Another was his brother-in-law, Damion Lee, who is married to his sister, Sydel.
While his connection with Thompson is well known, Curry also has a closeness with Lee that came shining through in a tweet about his former teammate joining the Phoenix Suns.
“Time to blossom even more my brother. Gonna miss what you brought to the team on & off the court! Suns got a great one. #nowhiteflags.” Curry tweeted earlier this month.
The Suns signed the 29-year-old Lee to a one-year deal on July 5.
Undrafted out of Louisville, Lee had a predraft workout with the Suns in May 2016 when Phoenix was in the middle of a decade playoff drought.
Now he’s joining the franchise with championship aspirations. 
While Phoenix is essentially returning the team that won a franchise-record 64 games in earning the No. 1 overall seed in the 2022 NBA playoffs, Lee provides the Suns an athletic and active wing who can play the two or the three, score and defend.
“As the journey continues, I’m excited for this opportunity with the @Suns! #NoWhiteFlags #RingMe.” tweeted Lee on July 5 as he’s a career 35.7% shooter from 3 and connected on 86.8% of his free throws.
The Suns have prided themselves on having depth under head coach Monty Williams.
Big spenders: Are Phoenix Suns exceeding NBA’s $150.2M luxury tax level with a championship roster?
The 6-5 Lee provides them with that at the wing position where they have starting small forward Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, who plays the three and four, and Torrey Craig. 
Lee averaged 8.1 points in his four seasons in Golden State after starting his NBA career in 2017-18 with the Atlanta Hawks.
He averaged a career-high 12.7 points in 2019-20 as Thompson missed the entire year with knee injury suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals while Curry played only five games.
Related: Suns’ Cam Johnson’s upcoming CJ23 Invitational 3-on-3 tournament at Ability360 in Phoenix
Curry went down with a hand injury against Phoenix in Golden State’s fourth game.
The Warriors won just 15 games in having the NBA’s worst record that season, but Lee was one of the team’s bright spots that season. Lee had 11 20-point games topped by a career-best 26, hitting 5-of-7 from 3, in a loss against the Heat.
He averaged 12.3 points in four games against Phoenix.
In Golden State’s two wins over the Suns, Lee posted 16 points, eight rebounds and three steals on Dec. 27, 2019, and dropped 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds in a 16-point victory on Feb. 29, 2020, in Phoenix. 
Two seasons later, Lee won his first NBA championship with the Warriors as he averaged 7.4 points in a career-best 63 games in the 2021-22 regular season.
He scored a season-high 22 in a 118-104 victory on March 23 at Miami.
“These last 4 years have been nothing short of amazing! Thank you to the @warriors organization for an unbelievable ride! Love and appreciate y’all more than you’ll ever know!” Lee tweeted on July 5.
These last 4 years have been nothing short of amazing! Thank you to the @warriors organization for an unbelievable ride! Love and appreciate y’all more than you’ll ever know! pic.twitter.com/gRPp2r6NjO
— Damion Lee (@Dami0nLee) July 6, 2022
Have opinion about current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
Support local journalism. Start your online subscription.
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<item>
<title>Merck prevented billions in U.S. tax by offshoring Keytruda income – senator</title>
<link>https://taxlaw.review/merck-prevented-billions-in-u-s-tax-by-offshoring-keytruda-income-senator/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Wilson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jul 2022 15:00:18 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Corporate Tax Law]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://taxlaw.review/?p=24161</guid>
<description><![CDATA[July 27 (Reuters) – Drugmaker Merck & Co (MRK.N) avoided billions of dollars of U.S. taxes in recent years on its top-selling cancer drug Keytruda by booking all the profits… ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
July 27 (Reuters) – Drugmaker Merck & Co (MRK.N) avoided billions of dollars of U.S. taxes in recent years on its top-selling cancer drug Keytruda by booking all the profits from the treatment outside of the United States, according to an ongoing investigation by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee.
The committee’s chairman Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon sent a letter to Merck Chief Executive Robert Davis on Wednesday criticizing the drugmaker for refusing to provide all the information the committee has requested. Wyden’s office provided a copy of the letter to Reuters.
Democrats on the committee have been investigating how the tax law passed by Republicans in 2017 has benefited large U.S. pharmaceutical companies such as Merck and AbbVie and whether those companies have been exploiting foreign subsidiaries to avoid taxes.
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Wyden said in the letter that Merck was able to avoid U.S. taxes on Keytruda – even on sales in the United States – by holding patents in the Netherlands and manufacturing the drug in Ireland.
“Prior to today, we have received two letters from the Senate Finance Committee requesting responses to questions around our tax rate, and in each case, we have cooperated and responded with information that we believe appropriately addressed their inquiries,” Merck said in an emailed statement.
AbbVie did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cancer immunotherapy Keytruda is one of the world’s top-selling drugs. Merck sold around $17.2 billion of it in 2021, with around $9.8 billion of those sales in the United States.
Merck’s effective tax rate last year was 11%, Wyden said in his letter, just over half the current U.S. corporate tax rate of 21%.
Wyden said the $22.4 billion of sales it reported in the United States accounted for 46% of Merck’s sales in 2021. Still, the company only reported $1.85 billion in pretax income in the United States for the year – less than 15% of its total pretax income.
Earlier this month, an interim report from the committee said that shifting profits overseas by AbbVie Inc resulted in “stunningly low effective tax rates.” read more 
In 2018, Reuters laid out how AbbVie reported its income in lower tax jurisdictions, which was possible in part because the company parked the majority of the patents for its top-selling drug, the rheumatoid arthritis treatment Humira, in tax haven Bermuda.
<h5 data-testid="Heading" class="text__text__1FZLe text__white__3r45t text__medium__1kbOh text__heading_5__2krbj heading__base__2T28j heading__heading_5__2A2g- registration-prompt__heading__3fq-h">Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com</h5>
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Reporting by Michael Erman Editing by Caroline Humer and Mark Potter
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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<item>
<title>In New Mexico, alcohol prices residents dearly. Who’s paying the tab</title>
<link>https://taxlaw.review/in-new-mexico-alcohol-prices-residents-dearly-whos-paying-the-tab/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Wilson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jul 2022 12:31:35 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Excise Tax Law]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://taxlaw.review/?p=24157</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Ted Alcorn | New Mexico In Depth Alcohol costs New Mexico dearly. It killed 1,878 residents in 2020, three times the nation’s rate. But getting hammered here is cheap. At… ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
Ted Alcorn 
 | New Mexico In Depth
Alcohol costs New Mexico dearly. It killed 1,878 residents in 2020, three times the nation’s rate.
But getting hammered here is cheap.
At the Shop-N-Save on Gallup’s west side, a thirty-rack of Natural Ice beer sells for $24.95 after tax, a little over two hours’ earnings at minimum wage. Total Wine in Santa Fe offers a five-liter box of Franzia Crisp White wine for $15.15, or 45 cents per drink. And you can’t do better than Wal-Mart in Rio Rancho, where a 1.75-liter handle of Aristocrat vodka sells for $11.84, just 30 cents a drink.
Rock-bottom prices, experts say, are at the heart of the state’s drinking problem.
Other factors also contribute to New Mexico’s high rate of alcohol-related deaths: cycles of violence and trauma that perpetuate alcohol-dependence, opiates and methamphetamines that make for a toxic mix with drink, and the unequal treatment of Native communities that produces yawning disparities. But the easy availability of cheap alcohol makes all this worse.
And over the last 50 years, the price of alcohol has declined dramatically compared to the average person’s income. According to one study, in order to drink heavily of even the cheapest liquor in 1970, a person would have to spend 22% of average after-tax income. By 2010, doing so required just 3%.
To reverse the state’s ballooning rate of alcohol-related deaths, experts say New Mexico has to make drinking more expensive. That can be done by taxing it at a higher rate — but the politics of doing so are difficult. The most recent push to increase alcohol taxes, in 2017, demonstrates the feeble advocacy for change, the robust opposition to it, and the powerful inertia of the status quo.
<h2 class="presto-h2">Basic economics and public health</h2>
Alcohol taxes have been around since the birth of the country — the first U.S. Congress placed a tax on imported alcoholic drinks on July 4, 1789. New Mexico’s Liquor Excise Tax Act, drafted shortly after the repeal of Prohibition, reflects its age in arcane terminology like “spirituous liquors.” The statute sets rates by the liter or gallon but converted to “standard drinks” the state taxes beer at 4 cents per 12-ounce can, wine at 7 cents per 150-milliliter glass, and liquor at 7 cents per 1.5-ounce shot.
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These tiny amounts add up, netting the state just shy of $50 million a year. This revenue is what alcohol taxes are best known for, but they are also a tool of public health.
“Back in the day when I got started on this, nobody thought tax mattered,” said Philip Cook, a professor emeritus of economics at Duke University who has studied alcohol policy all his career. But his research, and that of other scholars, demonstrates the way governments tax alcohol also affects how people drink.
It is a basic economic principle that when the price of a normal good rises, consumers demand less of it. Over 100 studies have shown this is true of alcohol: when governments raise alcohol taxes, businesses that sell alcohol raise prices, and consumers respond by drinking less. (Bars and restaurants have turned this logic on its head by lowering prices during “happy hour” to encourage customers to drink more and earlier.)
The same economic principle has been used to reduce smoking by raising taxes on cigarettes. When it comes to alcohol, studies generally find a 10% increase in price results in a 5% reduction in overall demand.
Not all drinkers react to price changes in the same way. Young people typically have less money to spend so price increases prompt sharp reductions in consumption or delay the age at which they start to drink. Contrary to conventional wisdom, even heavy drinkers consume less as prices rise, in part because the hit to the pocketbook is greater when you buy greater volumes of alcohol. “It’s people who drink a lot that are likely to be sensitive, not the people who drink on Christmas and Easter,” Cook said.
Most important are the impacts alcohol taxes have on health, and they are sweeping and unequivocal.
Study after study has shown that higher alcohol prices curb cirrhosis deaths, drunk driving, violence and crime, and even sexually transmitted disease. When Alaska raised its alcohol taxes by a few cents a drink in 1983 and again in 2002, a study found it cut alcohol-related mortality by 40%. In 2009 when Illinois raised taxes on a drink of liquor by less than a nickel, with smaller hikes for beer and wine, it cut fatal alcohol-related crashes by 26%, with an even larger reduction among drivers under 30. And in 2011 in Maryland, where advocates raised the sales tax levied on alcohol, the change reduced alcohol sales, accelerated a decline in binge-drinking, and cut alcohol-involved crashes and unsafe sex.
But opportunities to study increases in alcohol taxes are rare because these rate increases are the exception across the country. The overwhelming trend has been for states to let real tax rates fall, and legislators typically needn’t lift a finger to do it.
That’s because of inflation. Both federally and in almost all states, alcohol is taxed by the volume sold rather than as a percentage of its price. So over time as inflation pushes alcohol prices higher, the taxes are unchanged and the real tax rates slowly erode. A six-pack priced at $5.99 25 years ago is taxed the same amount as a $10.99 six-pack is today.
Between 1970 and 2010, total federal and state excise tax rates fell by nearly two-thirds after accounting for inflation. In New Mexico, where legislators last raised alcohol tax rates in 1994, they are the lowest they’ve been in a generation — even as the harms that alcohol imposes on the state have risen exponentially.
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And scientists say these harms are the best measuring stick for judging how far current tax rates fall short.
For a market to work efficiently, people choosing what to consume must face the full price of that decision. But for a significant share of the costs of drinking, the whole of society picks up the tab — economic losses due to sick or injured workers, healthcare expenditures by public programs, criminal justice responses to alcohol-fueled crimes.
Federal and state researchers calculated these costs at $2.77 per drink in New Mexico as of 2010 ($3.71 in 2022 dollars), the highest of any state and far in excess of what alcohol is taxed anywhere in the United States. When drinkers don’t have to factor these consequences into their actions, they are prone to consume more than they would otherwise. According to Tim Naimi, director of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, that leaves non-drinkers with the bill. “The taxpayers of New Mexico are massively subsidizing alcohol consumption.”
<h2 class="presto-h2">Passionate but inexperienced advocates</h2>
Peter DeBenedittis might not have been the champion for raising alcohol taxes New Mexico needed, but he was the one it got.
Originally from Colorado, he’d earned a doctorate in communications and had a varied career. He’d worked in advertising and staffed a successful gubernatorial campaign in the remote island territory of Guam, been a motivational speaker,and taught media literacy. He had an idealism that sometimes bordered on grandiosity. On a month-long retreat he once undertook at a temple in India, a monk asked him to envision the biggest thing he could think of. DeBenedittis answered, and the monk responded: think bigger. “That was influential,” DeBenedittis recalled.
After resettling in New Mexico, and drawing in part on his own struggle with alcoholism, he built a business marketing a trademarked curriculum for preventing substance misuse, the Alcohol Literacy Challenge. That’s why he was at a public health conference in 2014, where he saw a presentation about alcohol taxes.
DeBenedittis could point to a handful of studies that found his program was effective at reducing underage drinking, but he could only influence people who took it. A self-professed “research geek,” he also recalled being stunned by calculations showing the number of lives saved for each additional penny of tax imposed on alcohol. When he got home he called acquaintances, hoping to motivate one of them to pursue an increase in New Mexico’s tax rate. But he found himself leading the campaign.
“It became my mission,” he recalled.
The first person he recruited was Shelley Mann-Lev, the founder of the Santa Fe Underage Drinking Prevention Alliance. They dubbed their new coalition Alcohol Taxes Save Lives and Money.
The two had helped the city of Santa Fe pass a smoke-free ordinance a decade earlier, but alcohol taxes were a bigger challenge. Sporadic efforts to raise them in the state legislature had repeatedly sputtered.
A decade earlier when then-Gov. Bill Richardson was exploring reforms to the tax code, he proposed a dime-a-drink increase in the alcohol tax but dropped the proposal after key legislators resisted.
In 2009, Brian Egolf, newly elected to the House of Representatives, endorsed a dime-a-drink increase but the measure quickly died. He told a newspaper “an unholy alliance” of liquor interests, the hospitality industry, and grocery and convenience stores scuttled the bill.
Then for a few years Democratic Attorney General Gary King lobbied to allow counties to impose their own local tax of up to 4 cents per drink, but members of his own party bottled up the bill.
“Democrats are fluent at discussing prejudice and social inequality,” King’s chief lobbyist Phil Baca told New Mexico In Depth of the loss, but they are “completely unwilling to take on predatory industries like the liquor industry.”
Chances for a higher levy on alcohol in 2017 weren’t promising. Plunging oil and gas revenues meant the state was running a $600 million budget deficit and higher alcohol taxes were viewed by some as a way to raise revenue — but Republican Gov. Susana Martinez opposed increasing state taxes of any kind.
DeBenedittis was undaunted. To lay the groundwork for a legislative campaign, the coalition asked for and received money from Bernalillo County to project the impact of raising alcohol taxes by a quarter a drink — an amount far greater than lawmakers in other states had ever considered. But the advocates focused on the science, not the politics.
“We considered a dime but felt like to get the kind of impact — both in terms of the reduction of underage drinking as well as the revenues — that it needed to be meaningful,” said Mann-Lev. Each year, the report concluded, the tax increase would prevent over 12,000 new cases of alcohol dependence and save 52 lives. It would raise $154 million for New Mexico, too.
DeBenedittis published op-eds in local newspapers, launched a Facebook page, and crisscrossed the state educating audiences and recruiting volunteers to help.
But none of the advocates were familiar with how the Legislature works, recalled Holly Mata, then a public health specialist in Alamogordo. ”People get involved in advocacy because they’re passionate about something, but very few people have training or experience in navigating the ins and outs of political systems,” she said.
A majority of the public supported increasing taxes on alcohol, according to a poll released by the coalition, and some public health associations endorsed the plan. But major progressive organizations such as New Mexico Voices for Children, the Center for Civic Policy, and the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty didn’t lend their muscle to the effort. Nor were people in recovery or the state’s hard-hit tribal communities a visible presence among its members.
The coalition hammered home the message about the social costs of alcohol borne by taxpayers. It was “the only argument that held sway” in the Legislature, DeBenedittis felt.
In the House, they recruited freshman Democratic Rep. Joanne Ferrary of Las Cruces to carry the legislation. Ferrary had long worked in DWI prevention but was new to the Roundhouse. “I wish I knew then what I know now about having to lobby the different committee members and things like that,” she said.
The sponsor in the Senate, outspokenly progressive Cisco McSorely, a Democrat from Albuquerque, anticipated opposition from the state’s popular craft breweries. So he exempted from the proposed tax increase brewers who produce fewer than 15,000 barrels a year — nearly every brewery in New Mexico. Larger, out-of-state brewers, which produce over 90% of the beer consumed in the state, would be subject to the proposed tax hike.
<h2 class="presto-h2">Organized opposition</h2>
The businesses that profit by selling alcohol are numerous and diverse. Observers disagree about how much influence they wield in the state Legislature but the advocates certainly felt overmatched.
Mann-Lev recalled Roundhouse meeting rooms crowded with opponents.
“I’m literally talking about 20 men in suits, very expensively dressed, there all the time,” she said.
Lawmakers felt the pressure too, said Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino, D-Albuquerque. Most communities around the state have businesses that sell alcohol.
“It’s not like we’re dealing with something that only benefits one county,” Ortiz y Pino said.
And those who lobby on alcohol stick together, said Rep. Antonio Maestas, a Democrat on Albuquerque’s west side, “So they’re very successful at killing bills.”
Others said the alcohol industry is more organized than omnipotent, lacking the sway of oil and gas, attorneys, or hospitals. “They don’t have an overbearing influence,” said Charlie Marquez, a longtime lobbyist who for decades has represented the state’s green chile growers among other clients.
One of the most knowledgeable opponents of the tax increase was Maurice Bonal. His grandmother had opened a bar and restaurant in Santa Fe and he’d grown up around the alcohol industry, later becoming the state’s leading broker of liquor licenses. He estimated he’d owned nine businesses with alcohol licenses at one point, and has worked with more than two-thirds of the other licensees around the state.
He also commanded a deep understanding of state government and was intimately familiar with the Legislature, where relationships matter.
“Since 1973, I have attended every session,” he said. “I’ve known all the leadership throughout the years, and then of course all the members.”
Bonal contracted a lobbyist to fight the tax increase, saying license holders utterly opposed it. A quarter-per-drink increase wouldn’t reduce excessive consumption, he said. “You could double (the price) and all that would happen is the black market would kick in.”
Another opponent of the tax increase, Ruben Baca, had gotten familiar with the legislature through his wife Patricia Baca, a state representative from Albuquerque between 1985 and 1994. He’d lobbied for a racetrack and a for-profit college but his main clientele was gas stations, which he represented as the executive director of the Petroleum Marketers’ Association.
Baca called the proposed tax increase a “boondoggle” and recalled showing lawmakers maps of New Mexico’s neighboring states that taxed alcohol even less.
“I talk to the people who vote,” he said, adding the advocates weren’t as focused on that strategy. “The nonprofits and these other people that are just activists, they don’t mean anything.”
The founder of La Cumbre Brewing Company, Jeff Erway also lobbied against the bill. He said a tax increase might curb drinking and prevent some chronic illness but making alcohol more expensive would never help the most desperate alcoholics. “You are going to take food out of the mouths of children,” he said. “You are not going to tax their parents into making a better life choice.”
Working against the advocates, too, was alcohol’s often-hidden role in lawmaking. During each legislative session, lobbyists wine and dine New Mexico’s unpaid lawmakers at renowned watering holes such as Santa Fe’s Bull Ring and Rio Chama steakhouses.
The pervasiveness of alcohol in lawmaking makes reform difficult, Maestas said.
“Every restaurant we go to, there’s the liquor license guy,” he said. “You’re choosing good public policy over people you know, and that’s a tough vote.”
<h2 class="presto-h2">A forgone conclusion</h2>
By the time the 2017 legislative session began, opponents of the tax increase were fired up. The first hint came Feb. 5, Super Bowl Sunday, when McSorely held a town hall for constituents in Nob Hill’s Immanuel Presbyterian Church.
Erway was among the crowd of 300, many wearing New Mexico Brewers Guild shirts, according to a blog post by attendee Chris Jackson, who published under the byline “Stoutmeister.” The mood was contentious. When McSorely tried to correct the misconception that the bill would impose a tax on small breweries, which it in fact exempted, Erway shouted “Liar!” and was nearly ejected.
On Feb. 20, the bill was heard by the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee at the end of a hearing that started in the afternoon and stretched into the evening. As McSorely prepared to present the bill to his colleagues, one joked, “I’d hoped he’d gone to bed,” to laughter.
“Did you bring beer before it’s taxed?” another asked.
McSorely made opening remarks and introduced DeBenedittis, whose testimony brimmed with facts and figures about how hiking the tax on alcohol would raise revenue and reduce public expenditures but wearied some.
Committee chairman Clemente Sanchez, a Democrat, interrupted, “You’re not gonna go through every one of these slides, are you?”
DeBenedittis concluded by thanking the committee “for hearing how this bill creates jobs and grows New Mexico’s economy.”
Then opponents spoke. Jeff Lewis, executive director of the New Mexico Brewers’ Guild, acknowledged the bill would exempt craft brewers but signaled unity with the rest of the industry. “We’re part of an ecosystem that includes restaurateurs, hoteliers, our partners in the distribution business, the grocers,” he said, “and for that reason we can’t support it.”
Asked if the industry would be open to negotiating a smaller increase, Jimmy Bates, the head of Premier Distributing, rejected compromise. “Any tax increase, Mr. Chairman, we’d be opposed.”
And Nancy King, a lobbyist for Anheuser-Busch, noted that raising the tax by a quarter per drink would amount to “a 589% increase,” although the jump seemed dramatic only because the existing rate was so low. Later that fall as legislators approached re-election, Anheuser-Busch would shower them with $30,000 in political contributions.
Democratic senator Michael Padilla, whose Albuquerque district includes another major distributor, Admiral Beverage Corporation, said he saw the tax as both too high and too low. “Even though it’s excessive, I just don’t think it’s going to really change behavior.”
By a vote of 5 to 4, the committee tabled the measure and retired for the night. That proved to be the high watermark of the campaign.
“All the doors I had opened in the senate closed shut,” DeBenedittis said. He went on to pursue a quixotic run for governor, dropping out in the spring of 2018 when Michelle Lujan Grisham was effectively coronated the Democratic candidate. (Premier Distributing, Admiral Beverage Corporation, and another distributor Southern Wine & Spirits of New Mexico each contributed the maximum $5,500 to her campaign committee). DeBenedittis is now offering Channeled Spiritual Coaching Sessions under the brand Becoming Awesome.
Mann-Lev stepped down from the Santa Fe Prevention Alliance and her successor took the organization in a different direction. Without leadership, the other volunteers lost steam. “It just seemed like we were screaming into the wind,” Mata said.
Ferrary wished the campaign had held together. “It takes many years of effort to educate legislators,” she said. “We should have kept trying.”
<h2 class="presto-h2">What it would take</h2>
Any effort to raise New Mexico’s alcohol taxes today would encounter different challenges.
A wave of state senators who took office in 2018 shifted the balance of power in that chamber leftward. And Lujan Grisham made her early career heading the state health department and has taken aggressive measures against another public health threat, COVID-19.
But on alcohol, she has not followed the advice of her scientific advisors, according to former health department staff. Michael Landen, New Mexico’s state epidemiologist from 2012 to 2020, said when he sought permission from her staff to talk with legislators about reducing alcohol-related deaths by increasing alcohol taxes, they rebuffed him.
“We’d have to get a go-ahead to do something like that,” he said. “We did not get a go-ahead.”
Asked to comment, the governor’s office wrote in a statement that she “fully recognizes the scourge of alcohol and substance abuse in New Mexico and will continue to take every evidence-based action to combat this epidemic.”
Those concerned about the state’s over-reliance on oil and gas revenue repeatedly call for diversifying the tax base, and earlier this month the senate’s interim Revenue Stabilization and Tax committee held public hearings about alternative sources of revenue.
The committee’s chairman, Sen. Benny Shendo, D-Jemez Pueblo, said raising alcohol taxes is among the options under consideration.
“I think everything should be fair game.”
On the other hand, oil and gas production has pushed the state budget into surplus, relieving the urgency for finding revenue that animated the 2017 session. And in an election year, no one sees political advantage in supporting a tax hike.
But not acting allows inflation to eat away at the value of the tax. The present historically high inflation rate will effectively grant alcohol the biggest tax cut in 40 years.
Meanwhile, alcohol’s harms are growing and with them the need for remedies: Since 2017 alcohol has killed at least 8,000 New Mexicans.
Ferrary argued that public health should trump political considerations.
“If we can’t be elected on the things that need to be done to help our citizens, it basically isn’t worth it,” she said.
Outgoing Speaker Egolf sees the issue differently than he did in 2009, when as a freshman he blamed the demise of his dime-a-drink tax increase on special interests. He no longer thinks the alcohol industry has an undue influence. Instead, he attributed the failure to pass a tax increase to the absence of a truly sustained, strategic effort by supporters.
“Quite often there are advocates — and pick the area, it really makes no difference — who have an idea. They have a study or they have data that shows that their ideas are going to make a positive impact,” he said. “They find a member to file a bill on their behalf, and are outraged or devastated or something in between when it doesn’t pass. And the reality is: passing a bill on any topic that generates any controversy or disagreement is hard.”
Raising alcohol taxes “could absolutely be done,” Egolf said. “It’s just a question of who is going to step in and put forward the effort to turn an idea into a law.”
This reporting was made possible by support from the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism, the McCune Charitable Foundation, the Con Alma Health Foundation, and a fellowship from the Association of Health Care Journalists supported by The Commonwealth Fund.
Ted Alcorn is a writer raised in New Mexico whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post Magazine, among other publications. Follow him at @tedalcorn.
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<item>
<title>“Actually inexcusable”: Democrats set to let unpopular Trump tax cuts for the rich keep in place</title>
<link>https://taxlaw.review/actually-inexcusable-democrats-set-to-let-unpopular-trump-tax-cuts-for-the-rich-keep-in-place/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Wilson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jul 2022 09:59:48 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Corporate Tax Law]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://taxlaw.review/?p=24153</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Not a single Democrat in either the House or the Senate voted yes in 2017 when Republicans and then-President Donald Trump—hellbent on delivering big for their wealthy donors—rammed through legislation that… ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
Not a single Democrat in either the House or the Senate voted yes in 2017 when Republicans and then-President Donald Trump—hellbent on delivering big for their wealthy donors—rammed through legislation that slashed the corporate tax rate to 21% and lowered the top marginal rate for the richest people in the United States.
But despite the law’s deep unpopularity with the American public, it remains largely intact five years later even as Democrats—many of whom campaigned on reversing some or all of the regressive GOP tax law—narrowly control Congress and the presidency.
The persistence of the Trump tax law, which delivered a massive windfall to the rich and corporate forces that helped shape the measure, has drawn growing attention in recent days as Democrats head into the crucial November midterms having failed to pass the bulk of their domestic policy agenda, largely due to the obstruction of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
While Manchin voted against the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and has voiced support for at least partially rolling back the law, he has repeatedly blocked progress on a legislative package that would include tax increases targeting large companies and ultra-rich individuals.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., too, has stood in the way of corporate tax hikes, imperiling Democrats’ efforts to finance child care, Medicare expansion, and other priorities by bringing in more federal revenue. Sinema, then a member of the House, joined Manchin and other right-wing Democrats in opposing the Trump tax cuts in 2017.
“There are many implications to the failure of talks on what was once the Build Back Better Act and what is now the Negotiate Prices on Ten Drugs Starting in 2026 Act of 2022 (working title),” The American Prospect’s David Dayen wrote in a column earlier this month, sardonically referencing the watered-down package that Senate Democrats are currently negotiating.
“But one of the biggest is that the Trump tax cuts will make it through the first two years of the Biden administration unscathed—and could very well become permanent, a symbol of the one-way ratchet in favor of the top 1% that characterizes U.S. policymaking,” Dayen continued. “If the so-called party of the people cannot raise taxes on the ultra-rich they have little purpose other than being yet another handmaiden for the wealthy in Washington.”
“If you have unanimous opposition to a bad policy with no real political proponents and then can’t get a single thing done about it in the space of five years, it speaks to an essential malfunctioning at every level of the party and the process,” he added. “Nobody should get a pass for it. It’s nothing short of an embarrassment.”
Amy Hanauer, executive director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, echoed that assessment in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, calling Democrats’ failure to undo the Trump tax cuts “a crushing defeat in a lot of ways—and really inexcusable.”
“I’m not going to pretend we’re happy about it or I’m capable of my usual hopeful take on things,” said Hanauer. “It’s a pretty tough moment.”
On the campaign trail in 2020, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden vowed to “get rid of the bulk of Trump’s $2 trillion tax cut,” which the Democratic contender criticized as “irresponsible.”
Now, a year and a half into his presidency, Biden and his party are barreling toward the November midterms with their congressional majority at stake and that promise unfulfilled. Democrats argue that given Manchin and Sinema’s obstruction, they need a larger majority in the Senate to pass their agenda, including repeal of the tax law.
Absent any changes to the law, the rate cuts for individuals and households under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to expire in 2025. The reduction in the corporate tax rate, though, was made permanent by the measure’s Republican authors.
“If the question is where do Democrats go from here, it feels like the short answer is nowhere,” Vanessa Williamson, a senior fellow and tax expert at the Brookings Institution, told the Journal. “You can’t just keep asking people to vote harder. If a party is in power, people expect them to be able to achieve the things they want to achieve.”
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<item>
<title>Appraisal Chief – Pleasanton Specific</title>
<link>https://taxlaw.review/appraisal-chief-pleasanton-specific/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Wilson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jul 2022 09:35:24 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Estate and Property Tax Law]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://taxlaw.review/?p=24149</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It appears that there is some confusion regarding the actual parcel (property) count within the county and how some properties are handled by the Appraisal District. The appraisal district is… ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
It appears that there is some confusion regarding the actual parcel (property) count within the county and how some properties are handled by the Appraisal District.
The appraisal district is responsible for appraising property in the district for ad valorem tax purposes. The Atascosa Central Appraisal District currently consists of some 74,436 properties, or parcels, that must be appraised. These parcels include a wide variety of property types: from vacant land to pastureland, apartment buildings to hotels and oil and gas mineral interests to machinery and equipment used to produce income.
Appraisal districts typically appraise land, residential and other local properties, in-house using appraisers that work directly for the district. Due to the complex nature of appraising some types of properties, most appraisal districts hire professional appraisal firms that specialize in industrial, utility, pipeline, and mineral appraisals to perform the appraisals of such properties. Atascosa Central Appraisal District contracts with the registered professional engineering firm of Hugh L. Landrum & Associates, Inc. to appraise the district’s industrial, utility, pipeline, and mineral properties. Of the 74,436 parcels in the district, the district appraises 61.23% or 45,596 parcels in-house and contracts out the remaining 38.74% or 28,840 parcels. Included within the parcel count appraised by the district are the business personal property accounts, which total 1,572.
The International Association of Assessing Officers’ recommendations regarding organizational structure for appraisal personnel recommends 3,100 parcels per appraiser for county-wide appraisals. The district’s reappraisal plan breaks the real property parcel count reappraisals into a 2-year cycle. In order to comply with the reappraisal plan and complete the recommended appraisals of 22,012 properties, the district would need 7.1 field appraisers working real property accounts. We are currently staffed at 4.5 field appraisers. We have one appraiser designated to the appraisal of the business personal property accounts.
For clarification, the following is the definition of “property” from the Texas Property Tax Code: Sec. 1.04. Definitions. In this title: (1) “Property” means any matter or thing capable of private ownership.
(2) “Real property” means:
•(A) land;
•(B) an improvement;
•(C) a mine or quarry;
•(D) a mineral in place;
•(E) standing timber; or
•(F) an estate or interest, other than a mortgage or deed of trust creating a lien on property or an interest securing payment or performance of an obligation, in a property enumerated in Paragraphs (A) through (E) of this subdivision.
(3) “Improvement” means:
•(A) a building, structure, fixture, or fence erected on or affixed to land;
<img decoding="async" src="https://www.pleasantonexpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Price-Chevrolet-Banner-scaled.jpg"/>
•(B) a transportable structure that is designed to be occupied for residential or business purposes, whether or not it is affixed to land, if the owner of the structure owns the land on which it is located, unless the structure is unoccupied and held for sale or normally is located at a particular place only temporarily; or
•(C) for purposes of an entity created under Section 52, Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, the:
•(i) subdivision of land by plat;
•(ii) installation of water, sewer, or drainage lines; or
•(iii) paving of undeveloped land.
(3-a) Notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, a manufactured home is an improvement to real property only if the owner of the home has elected to treat the manufactured home as real property pursuant to Section 1201.2055, Occupations Code, and a copy of the statement of ownership has been filed with the real property records of the county in which the home is located as provided in Section 1201.2055(d), Occupations Code.
(4) “Personal property” means property that is not real property.
While some manufactured homes meet the definition of real property, the ones that do not are still appraised by the real property field appraisal staff and not the business personal property appraiser.
All appraisals are done in compliance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) for Mass Appraisal and Personal Property Appraisal as required by Section 23.06 (b) of the Texas Property Tax Code.
The real property parcel count has grown by 1823 accounts from 2020-2022. The district is expecting an additional 2000 accounts within the next two years. To distribute the workload appropriately and prepare for the future growth within the county, an additional field appraiser is necessary to maintain the level of efficiency that we have been operating under for the past 15 years.
The development of the budget for appraisal districts is described in Section 6.06 of the Texas Property Tax Code. To deviate from the procedure in the Tax Code would be to violate the law.
In closing, I feel it is important to stress that the Appraisal District is a political subdivision of the State of Texas. We are not a county entity. We report market value to the local taxing jurisdictions as required by statute. The appraisal district does not set tax rates, nor do we impose a tax. That is done by the county and other governing bodies within the county, respectively.
MICHELLE L BERDEAUX RPA, RTA, CTA, CCA has been a Property Tax Professional for 25 years. Registered Professional Appraiser, Registered Tax Assessor/ Collector, Certified Tax Administrator and a Certified Chief Appraiser. Past Steering Committee Chairperson of the Texas Rural Chief Appraisers Association (2019) and the current President of the Texas Association of Assessing Officers.
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<item>
<title>Pinarayi says no to five% GST for important objects, however implements hike with out second thought</title>
<link>https://taxlaw.review/pinarayi-says-no-to-five-gst-for-important-objects-however-implements-hike-with-out-second-thought/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Wilson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jul 2022 06:49:50 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Luxury Tax law]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://taxlaw.review/?p=24145</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that the State Government will not implement the five percent hike in GST for essential goods such as rice and pulse… ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that the State Government will not implement the five percent hike in GST for essential goods such as rice and pulse items sold in packets by small-time producers and retail traders, including Kudumbashree units.
The CM said that the State has sent a letter to the Prime Minister seeking withdrawal of the hike in GST for packed items that would lead to price rise for essential items. He claimed that his government was against all types of increase in tax that would affect the common man.
The government’s stand was that the Centre should hike tax on luxury goods instead of resorting to raising tax for essential commodities, he added.
The CM further said that such a stand was conveyed by Kerala at the meetings of the GST Council and various government committees on GST rates.
Earlier, Finance Minister KN Balagopal had told the State Assembly that the State Government would not implement the five percent hike in GST rates for essential commodities.
Kerala implements Centre’s dictum on July 18
But the Kerala Government was likely not serious about its publicised opposition to the latest round of hike in Goods and Services Tax (GST) on a few essential articles from July 18. The State implemented the latest Central government order to impose five percent GST even as the Chief Minister and Finance Minister asserted that the State would not do so.
(Under the GST regime both the Central and the State governments have to agree on combining their levies with an appropriate proportion for revenue sharing between them.)
A hike for packed items such as rice, wheat and pulses being sold through retail shops came into force on July 18. The Centre and the State will share the 5% additional revenue generated out of this tax hike.
The Central government issued a notification on 2.5% GST hike for essential goods. Had it been sincere on the non-implementation of such an increase, the Kerala Government could have issued a notification exempting the same hike that it could impose. Instead of doing it, Kerala implemented the Union government’s order in the same manner in the State from July 18.
To impress the public that the Left Democratic Front Government is against the hike in GST for essential goods a letter was sent to the Central Government, requesting its withdrawal.
(GST is a single domestic indirect tax law for the entire country. It subsumes erstwhile state taxes like VAT, octroi, luxury tax, purchase tax, and central taxes like customs duty, central excise duty and service tax.)
]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Chuck Schumer Realized Nothing From California’s Pot Legalization Failure</title>
<link>https://taxlaw.review/chuck-schumer-realized-nothing-from-californias-pot-legalization-failure/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Jason Wilson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Jul 2022 05:28:56 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Excise Tax Law]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://taxlaw.review/?p=24141</guid>
<description><![CDATA[During the next year, California officials said last week, the state expects to seize “more than $1 billion worth of illegal cannabis products.” That announcement came a few weeks after… ]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[
During the next year, California officials said last week, the state expects to seize “more than $1 billion worth of illegal cannabis products.” That announcement came a few weeks after the U.S. Justice Department bragged about guilty pleas by 11 unlicensed California marijuana merchants who had been nabbed with help from state and local law enforcement agencies.
The continuing war on weed in California, which supposedly legalized marijuana in 2016, reflects the striking failure to replace black-market dealers with state-licensed vendors, a plan that has been doomed by high taxes, local bans, and overregulation. Judging from the marijuana legalization bill he introduced last week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D‒N.Y.) has learned nothing from that experience.
Six years after California voters approved recreational marijuana, unauthorized suppliers still account for somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of sales. A recent report from Reason Foundation, which publishes this website, highlights one major reason why licensed businesses have had so much trouble competing with illegal suppliers: Taxes are too high.
Geoff Lawrence, Reason Foundation’s managing director of drug policy, found that California’s effective tax rate ranged from $42 to $92 per ounce, depending on the jurisdiction, compared to an estimated wholesale production cost of $35 per ounce. The corresponding rates in Colorado and Oregon, both of which have been more successful at displacing the black market, are about $33 and $21, respectively.
Despite modest tax relief approved this year, legal marijuana remains overpriced in California. It is also inconvenient to buy in much of the state, Lawrence notes, thanks to local sales bans that have created “massive cannabis deserts” where “consumers have no access to a legal retailer within a reasonable distance of their home.”
Legal sellers also must contend with burdensome licensing requirements and regulations. Dale Gieringer, California director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, says those rules help explain why legal marijuana prices are much higher than he anticipated.
“It turned out that I had vastly underestimated the cost of the regulations imposed by the new law,” Gieringer writes in an introduction to the Reason Foundation report. “In addition to state and local licensing fees, there were elaborate rules on cultivation, retailing, transportation, manufacture, testing, facility siting, ownership, security, storage, on-site consumption, wholesale distribution, seed-to-sale tracking, waste disposal, labeling, packaging, environmental compliance, water usage, etc. ad nauseam.”
Despite years of complaints about these barriers, Schumer decided that the cannabis industry needs more taxes and regulations. His 296-page Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, which is co-sponsored by Sens. Ron Wyden (D–Ore.) and Cory Booker (D–N.J.), includes 52 pages dealing with taxation and 71 pages prescribing new regulations for marijuana businesses.
Schumer’s bill calls for a federal excise tax starting at 10 percent and rising to 25 percent by the fifth year, which would be in addition to frequently hefty state and local taxes. Implicitly acknowledging the counterproductive impact of those levies, the bill would cut the rates in half for businesses with proceeds below specified levels.
Schumer wants to charge the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with registering marijuana businesses, setting product standards, establishing labeling requirements, policing “adulterated” and “misbranded” products, regulating advertising and promotion, and imposing “restrictions on sale and distribution.” In addition to mandating specific rules, such as a nationwide minimum purchase age of 21 and a ban on adding flavors to cannabis vaping products, the bill would authorize the FDA to impose any restrictions it deems “appropriate for the protection of the public health.”
Given the FDA’s dubious sense of what protecting public health means in other areas, such as regulation of tobacco and nicotine vaping products, that is a pretty scary clause. As in those contexts, whatever arbitrary rules the agency comes up with are bound to restrict consumer choice and help perpetuate the black market.
“By failing to act,” Wyden says, “the federal government is empowering the illicit cannabis market.” That’s exactly what this bill’s taxes and regulations would do.
© Copyright 2022 by Creators Syndicate Inc.
]]></content:encoded>
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