It’s almost Turkey time, and right after Thanksgiving many Americans will kick off the holiday shopping season with “Black Friday”; and, if not this week, soon enough even the biggest shopping procrastinators will have to scrounge up something for Mom and Dad.
For many of those generous gift-buyers the state will be taking home a more significant portion of their expenses this holiday season thanks to sales and gas tax hikes.
Three states just couldn’t manage to find a way to cut spending, and instead raised sales taxes; and ten states and the District of Columbia hiked up their gas tax rates.
California took home the crown for highest statewide sales tax rate as they rocketed their rate to 7.5 percent. More surprisingly Arkansas (up to 6.5 percent) and Virginia (up to 5.3 percent) also saw increases.
For most people shopping means driving, or having something shipped that makes somebody else drive. So the second state-level tax that will have some unpleasant surprises for citizens (and Amazon) is the gas tax.
Adding to this bane of commuters, shoppers, and taxpayers, were California (new state motto: “Bring Money”), Wyoming, Nebraska, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
For residents of these states Black Friday will seem a little bit darker this year. Is your state playing the Grinch this holiday season?
Source: Tax Foundation:
https://taxfoundation.org/blog/map-state-gasoline-tax-rates
https://taxfoundation.org/article/state-and-local-sales-tax-rates-midyear-2013