Tax Lawyer's Blog

David Boaz of the Cato Institute alerts us to an article in the Washington Post about efforts by two Virginia counties (Fairfax and Loudon) to put a surtax on dining out:

Despite the recession, a growing number of Northern Virginia officials say they think people would be willing to pay more when dining out to avoid further cuts in budgets for schools and local government.

Yeah, right, that’s sure to jump-start the economy.

Boaz says if county officials truly believe a meal tax would be supported by the majority of it’s residents, they should “put it to a referendum?”

Or better yet, why not make it voluntary? The waitress could bring you a bill that shows the cost of the food and drink, the state tax, the county tax (as Virginia receipts already do), and then “additional voluntary local tax to keep Fairfax government big.”

If the supervisors are right, people will gladly pay it.

Right, supervisors?

Trust me, I won’t be holding my breath waiting for these pols to take David up on his challenge. My guess is that they know the public won’t support this tax increase so rather than put it to a vote and risk losing, they’ll try to implement it by fiat.

To make matters worse, the Washington Post says that the meal tax may just be the beginning of a series of special surtaxes:

Facing nearly a half-billion dollars in red ink, some Fairfax officials go even further. They say now is the time to raise user fees or impose new ones, such as charging high school students who play team sports. Others want to reinstate a $25-a-year car tax that was repealed three years ago.

Does this desperation to find new revenue sources sound at all familiar?

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• Tax on Rich is No-Brainer, Author of “Skinny Dip” Says
• Backdoor Taxes: Obama to Consider Consumption Tax?
• Taxing the Middle Class Through the Backdoor

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