New York State Pursues Luxury Tax on Jewelry Purchases

A new bill has been proposed in the New York State Senate that would impose a luxury tax of 5% on jewelry purchases. I find this absolutely ridiculous and it demonstrates how New York State’s politicians continue to ruin that State. Most counties in NYS have a current sales tax amount in the area of 9% and an additional tax of 5% would make jewelry purchasers liable for 14%. Imagine a young couple trying to purchase an engagement ring for $5000 having to pay $700 in taxes, how absurd is that?!

The Math Doesn’t Add Up

Wouldn’t you simply purchase your engagement rings on the internet where you wouldn’t have to pay any sales tax at all? Any person on the edge or indecisive about the viability of purchasing online would certainly have cause to make the leap. That said, the 5% NYS thinks it would gain is a pitons compared to the 9% it'll lose to the internet transactions. Another competitor would be the neighboring states that don’t have these burdensome taxes. In the end it could mean fewer taxes, certainly not what New York State legislators had in mind.

Socialism in Disguise

There’s been a lot of chatter about socialism, the threat it has on capitalism, and the growing size of government. Some say that it’s not happening and that it’s all an illusion in the minds of conservatives. I say that the liberals are the ones that can’t see straight, open your eyes to what’s happening. There’s a trend on local, state, and federal governmental levels to keep spending. Here’s a great idea…..why not spend as much time creating new tax bills as you do cutting spending and working on your budgets. The attack has clearly been on the “Rich”, you know the “Bastards” of our society! How dare those bastard Rich people have that money?! How dare they spend time in school learning their craft? How dare they exercise creative skills? How dare they create products and services to better our society? Let’s tax those bastards! I read a report recently that said that the taxes on the “Rich” ($250,000 and higher) are going to be raised to 42%. In addition, itemized deductions are going to be limited and many will no longer be available. When you factor in the deductions that aren’t available any more, the tax rate will be more like 45% while much of the country is paying 28%. Here’s a novel idea….why don’t we raise taxes on everybody?! We all live in the United States don’t we? Shouldn’t we all pay our part while enjoying the benefits?

Get Your Head Out of Your Ass New York

To legislators in New York State I say…”Get your freaking heads out of your asses!” For Pete’s sake, once and for all do something that makes sense. Try to make the numbers at least add up, actually read your spending bills, lower your spending. Smart economics is taking in more than you spend. You see, it’s not that complicated! Simply spend less on social programs, overpaid state employee benefits, and wasteful spending. We’re in a capitalistic and democratic society, at least the last time I checked we were. Isn’t that why millions of immigrants flocked to the United States in the first place? I thought it was because they had free reign to exercise their creative talents and work ethic while in pursuit of the American dream.