TaxBlog

News out on Friday that the government is considering a “crime tax”.

How it would work is that $50 would be levied on every person convicted of a crime, where they are required to go to court. These offences would range from traffic violations to murder and would be collected by the current Ministry of Justice system.

The proceeds would then be used to help victims with funeral costs, travel costs and things like counselling.

My question is: Shouldn’t this rightly be called a fine, not a tax?

Bookmark to:
          

The Govenor of New York has today proposed an “ipod Tax”

The ipod tax would tax the sale of downloaded music and other “digitally delivered entertainment services” by 4 per cent.

The article goes on to say that:

There also would be higher taxes on gas, taxi rides, cable and satellite TV service, cigars, beer, movie and sports tickets, and health spa visits, to name a few items.

Paterson seems to be fighting both obesity and budget deficits with a proposal for an 18 per cent tax on soda and other sugary drinks containing less than 70 per cent real fruit juice.

An ipod tax… That’s something to think about.

Bookmark to:
          

 The NZ Herald reports:

Bangladeshi men wishing to have more than one wife will have to pay a polygamy tax from next month in Rajshahi city.

Husbands taking a second, third or fourth wife will have to pay 10,000 taka ($230) for the first additional bride, $695 for the second and $925 for the third.

Bookmark to:
          

China will introduce a tax on chopsticks.

I’ve filed this in the absurd taxes category, but it may not be that absurd.

Disposable chopsticks used up 1.3 million cubic metres of timber each year, depleting the country’s forests, the ministry said.

The move was aimed at “promoting environmental protection and economising on resources while better guiding the production and consumption of certain products,” the ministry said on its website www.mof.gov.cn.

Bookmark to:
          

Another story out of the only in America file.

“Luzerne County plans to become the first county in the state to tax billboards as real estate, but the strategy is being challenged in a suit filed by an advertising firm.”

Taxing billboards? This follows the ridiculous suggestion of taxing locker rooms

Bookmark to:
          

From the only in the USA file

Irving voters will decide whether to tax professional football players for their use of Texas Stadium locker rooms under a proposal to help the city redevelop the stadium site after the Dallas Cowboys leave.

What’s next? We’ve had fart tax… Perhaps they’ll want to have a clothes tax?

Bookmark to: