Friday, December 11, 2009

Ax the Inventory Tax?

The Savannah Morning News has this editorial about killing the tax on unsold items that remain on the showroom floor in Georgia retail businesses.
The brusquely-worded editorial makes me take pause in wondering how objective the writer is on the subject:
"Nearly all states have eliminated this obnoxious levy, which poisons business growth, destroys jobs and unfairly soaks the private sector. Georgia, unfortunately, has not.
Some Georgia lawmakers have tried to drive a stake through the tax's ugly heart, only to be beaten back by local governments and public school systems that, unfortunately, rely on this source of revenue to help pay the bills."
"

But some Baldwin County Commission watchers may remember Commission Chair James "Bubba" Williams asking County Attorney David Waddell what can be done locally to banish this intrastate development deal breaker.
As the editorial says, local governments receive the majority of proceeds--voters will have an opportunity to ax the state's cut of the invo tax in 2010. But I don't know of any local governments who are either socking away reserve funds or signing tax rebate checks this year, so expect it to be a subject of hot debate during this session of the General Assembly.
Gold Dome Legislators will try to exploit any opportunity to leave the Capitol having cut taxes without disturbing state coffers.

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