Congress Wants to Tax Your Christmas Tree
by Amy Payne, Heritage Foundation, December 6, 2013
Christmas trees are pretty unpopular, right?
The House must think so, since its farm bill would pave the way to set up a Christmas Tree Promotion Board. Its purpose would be “to enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States.”
And it would be funded by a 15-cent tax on fresh Christmas trees—which sellers are free to pass on to you, the Bob Cratchits of America.
A couple of years ago, after significant backlash—in large part due to the efforts of The Heritage Foundation—the Administration backed off and issued a stay of this tax. But now Congress could make the tax a reality as the House and Senate work out differences between their farm bills.
See 8 more things that could go wrong with the farm bill >>>
As Heritage expert Daren Bakst has said:
A 15-cent tax may not seem like much. However, taxes are a death by a thousand cuts. One of those cuts shouldn’t come from the Christmas tree. One way to actually hurt the image of the Christmas tree is to make it a symbol of taxation during the holiday season.
Congress might as well throw in a jingle bell tax, too. That’s how farm-related a lot of the “farm” bill is. The “farm” policies Congress is considering include:
Congress may agree to consider a new farm bill any time now. As it is, taxpayers could be looking at a trillion-dollar, subsidy-filled disaster—complete with a Christmas tree tax. Humbug.
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