5 Downright Silly Sales Taxes

Several months ago, we wrote about New York State’s decision to crack down on bagel vendors who weren’t charging an 8.875% sales tax on sliced bagels. Believe it or not, that’s not the silliest sales tax story of the year.

Over at Reuters, they’ve put together a list of the most wtf-inspiring sales taxes around the country.

In addition to the bagel boondoggle, the list includes:

Belt Buckles: In Texas, your belt isn’t subject to sales tax, but that belt buckle sure is.

Cup Lids: The state of Colorado recently decided that lids for disposable drink cups are non-essential food packaging and therefore not exempt from sales tax.

Haunted Houses: While movie theater, Broadway and concert tickets are not subject to NY State sales tax, admissions to haunted houses are.

Tethered Hot-Air Balloon Rides: Kansas has decided that an untethered hot-air balloon is carrying passengers and therefore qualifies as a sales-tax-exempt form of air transportation. But if it’s just a balloon that never comes off its tether, then it’s an amusement ride and subject to sales tax.

From bagels to belt buckles: 2010’s craziest taxes [Reuters]

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