Because I wasn't depressed enough

[monkey5s]

I read a week-old article in the paper about the governor's tax proposal for Ohio. He wants to cut income tax- and pay for it by placing sales tax on everything that isn't already taxed. Yep, every service and "economic activity" that takes place, even if it's business to business, will be taxed at 5%. You will no longer be able to count on a set fee for something like overdraft protection at your bank- it will also have sales tax on it, that will depend on the amount covered. Any service you use at the ATM will have to charge sales tax (the banks are not having fun trying to figure out how to program that, because it will also have local sales tax rates involved reflecting the location of the ATM). The realtors association figures it will add a good $600 in closing costs onto a $125,000 house sale. Hair salons will have to charge sales tax- and you know that will lower tips given. You won't just pay a per-hour, or a set fee for the legal advice you need, you'll pay sales tax on top of it. Ohio will become the only state to impose sales tax on intangibles such as trademarks, franchises and licenses. Automobile purchases will end up being taxed for the car and for the loan (and don't forget for the temporary license plate). Coin operated laundromats will have to figure out how they can collect the tax at all. Retailers and credit card companies are trying to figure out just how many times a card swipe would be taxed, since every step of the way would be liable.

It seems that the best estimates show that the incredibly unwieldy increased sales tax burden will easily obliterate any income tax reduction that families will see. But the governor says, Hey! We're lowing income tax! That will make us job-friendly! Me, I can't quite believe any business would voluntarily locate here with the new SALES TAX ON EVERYTHING!!1!!! going on.