Taxes are an essential part of life. Everyone has to pay them, at some point or another. They help pay for services like roads, government services, & even healthcare in some parts of the world. But, there are some places that have put in some surprising tax laws that may leave you scratching your head.
- Window Tax
The Window Tax of 1696 was actually a tax against the wealthy people in England, Scotland, & Great Britain. An increased tax on the number of windows a house had tended to effect the rich, as they had the most windows in their nicer homes. People got smart, though, & just bricked over their windows. This led to a more balanced & fair system of taxing the wealthy of these nations, over time.
- Google Tax
The Culture Ministry of France has put in place a tax on the advertisements on websites like Google, Facebook, Digg, Microsoft, AOL, & Yahoo! Its creation was spearheaded by President Nicolas Sarkozy, who believes these companies are stealing France’s culture by scanning French art into digital libraries. It’s expected to generate some $29 million in revenue to go toward supporting French artists & online cultural information centers.
- Cow Flatulence Tax
Ireland, Denmark, & several other EU countries have started trying to combat global warming by taxing how much their cow’s fart. According to the Food & Agricultural Organization of the UN, the toots of cows & other livestock account for 18% of all greenhouse gases. This is due to the high amount of methane caused by their grassy green diet. While Ireland only sets the tax at an extra $18/cow, Denmark will cost farmers $110 for each one.
- Jock Tax
Back in 1991, when the Chicago Bulls defeated the LA Lakers in the NBA Finals, California enacted the Jock Tax to get a little revenge. What a bunch of poor sports! From then on, any time another team came to play in California, whatever money they were paid for that game would be subject to California State Income Tax. SInce that time, half the other states have followed suit. This gets them a cut of the highly paid ball players’ income to put toward funding their state services.
- Playing Card Tax
Alabama is the only state that imposes a 10 cent tax on decks of playing cards purchased within the state. Even though Alabama is not a state known for gambling (like Nevada, who gives out free decks of cards with every tax return filed), the revenue created goes to fund their roads & education. You can find out plenty about purchasing an official playing card tax stamp, but good luck finding out how this weird tax came to pass.
- Blueberry Tax
Maine blueberries are one of the state’s most important agricultural commodities. To protect them from overharvesting, they enacted a blueberry tax. The state gets an extra penny & a half, on top of any regular taxes, per pound of blueberries sold. This is meant to help keep the industry from “singing the blues” when the plants aren’t kept in check.
- Candy Tax
The city of Chicago has a tax of candy & sodas. The tricky part is that any sweets prepared with flour, like ice cream or chocolate, are considered food items & get taxed regularly. Any sweets without flour, like suckers & other hard candies, are called “candy” & taxed at an extra 5.25%. The same is true of soft drinks, if they aren’t made with any soy, milk, or fruit juice.
Along similar lines, Canadian cereal makers receive tax exemptions if the box contains a free toy. The only stipulation is that the toy can’t be “liquor, beer, or wine”. So, it would stand to reason that you would be hard pressed to find a Canadian breakfast cereal that didn’t give you a free toy in the box.
Taxes suck. But, we all have to pay them. And if you aren’t aware of all the outrageous tax laws on the books, you could find yourself paying more than you ever dreamed you would. These are just a few of the stranger ones gathered from around the globe, but they are by no means the only crazy tax laws out there! Buyer beware!
