semper_paratus_17763155

The 1990 Congressional Budget slapped a luxury tax on yachts to get more money from the wealthy. Result? People bought fewer boats. In its first year and a half, the yacht tax raised a pathetic $12,655,000 for the Treasury - enough to run the Agriculture Department for a little over two hours. Meanwhile, the tax contributed to the general devastation of the boating industry. It was estimated that 25,000 to 30,000 mostly blue-collar jobs were lost.http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D81731F935A2575BC0A9659582 60http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_n34_v9/ai_14466811Pat M - Sorry to break it to you but it was the Carter Administration and a Democratic Congress that enacted the yacht tax.http://hubpages.com/hub/Problems-with-Taxing-the-RichSuccess in America will not go unpunished

PatM6195

You can thank Rep control congress for that.Rep's play the poniz scam with your taxes. Like Reagan "NO NEW TAXES" as he sign the biggest tax deal in the history of the USA. Then comes along Newt Gingrich with a new TAX DEAL that Rep's past without even thinking about it.

zaphodsclone

How dare you inject reason into this.Eat the Rich!!!!!Everytime the government thinks it has found a new tricky way to increase "fees" (read taxes); smarter people find a way of not paying those fees.Bully for you

rhsaunders

Of course. That is just one sad example.

JustinH

Being part of a society where you expect things like paved roads, public education, and other things provided by the government, taxes are a necessary evil. The key is to ensure that taxes are fair and not excessive. I have no problem with luxury taxes, but if they add as much as 50% or more to the price of the item, then they are probably excessive. But this does bring up another question. If someone can afford luxuries like yachts and expensive sports cars, is it unreasonable for them to shoulder a greater share of the tax burden than someone who struggles just to make ends meet?While I fully support the idea that the rich should pay a higher percentage in income taxes, I think all tax dollars would have a greater impact if the tax codes were simplified and loopholes closed.The other question that needs to be asked about luxury tax is where the taxes most hurt production/sales. If I had to wager a guess, I would say it's usually in the bottom tier luxury items rather than the high dollar items. People who really can afford the finer things are not as likely to be deterred by higher prices.

Tom

When you tax an activity, you deter that activity. Liberals don't seem to get that.

JohnC0525

everything a government undertakes will have unintended consequences, therefor the less the government undertakes the least amount of unintended consequences will occur.