"...California - a tax on a tax" - Granite Grok

“…California – a tax on a tax”

Pay taxesI read this and just shook my head slowly from side to side – I just couldn’t believe what I was reading.  Given this, why haven’t we all risen up in righteous indignation (er, if not a lot more) and say “no more” to taking more and more?  But at least one person did the right thing by voting…

Life in California — A Tax on a Tax

I just got a bill for some extra property tax I owe to a county in California.  The story behind it is sad and sort of hilarious.

A year or two ago I got billed in an audit for some “California use tax” on some golf carts we moved to California from Arizona.  I hadn’t thought I owed use tax on them because I paid sales tax in Arizona where I bought them.  But California sales tax is higher than that in Arizona (naturally) so I apparently owed use tax on the difference.  OK, I paid it.

Then, just recently, I was informed by one county in California that my property tax reports were wrong.

 I reported the value of the gold (sic) carts based on what I bought them for but I did not include the California use tax in the value.  That had to be added to their value (even though in actuality the use tax made them less valuable).  Anyway, I got a tax bill for the property tax I owe on the value of the use tax I paid for carts, which in turn was based on the higher rate  of sales taxes charged in California than Arizona.   All because I actually moved business assets into California.

Won’t make that mistake again!  Over the last 5 years I have pulled nearly a half million dollars in business assets out of California, terminated 5 contracts, and laid off nearly 100 employees there — all mostly due to the hostile business environment there.

…by voting with both his feet and his dollars.  Yet as we have seen lately (especially with US Treasury issuing new “regulations” (with no authorizing legislation) to prevent more tax inversions – companies rebelling against high by pulling up stakes and moving to a new country) that government seems to be more and more thinking it is “entitled” to our money (or as Progressives seemed to believe that all the money in the country is at their command – and forgetting (ignoring?) that the “wealthiest country in the word” really belongs to individuals.

Governments (and their policies) can’t create jobs – it can only create an environment that encourages entrepreneurs, managers, and owners to grow their businesses knowing that taxes and the cost of regulations are going to take away their labor, talent, and the risk it takes to start and grow a business.  California is leading the way in showing how easy it is for clueless elected officials (and bureaucracies that keep piling on the regulations and restrictions) to kill that golden goose.  A little while ago, the company I work for pulled up stakes and moved from California (and moved to Texas) – a billion dollar / year in revenues.  Why NOT move to a better climate?

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