Are port charges and taxes out of control?

[Toofarfromthesea]

13 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I don't remember seeing the taxes broken out at the pump.  I was a gas jockey in the early 60's.  

 

I'm aware of gaso taxes because I get ticked off these days every time I have to fill up the tank.  😀

 

I grew up in NYC and they were definitely there at least up to the 70s.

[ldubs]

Just now, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

I grew up in NYC and they were definitely there at least up to the 70s.

 

They could have been in Northern California too.  My memory is sometimes faulty. lol. What I do remember is the folks pulling in and asking for two dollars worth of gaso.  That would see them through the weekend and they got their windshield cleaned to boot.  

[Toofarfromthesea]

3 minutes ago, ldubs said:

 

They could have been in Northern California too.  My memory is sometimes faulty. lol. What I do remember is the folks pulling in and asking for two dollars worth of gaso.  That would see them through the weekend and they got their windshield cleaned to boot.  

 

I'm old enough to remember my dad pulling into the gas station and telling the attendent "$5 worth or fill up, which ever comes first" and he usually got change from his fiver.

 

In 1970 he and I drove to Beaumont TX from NYC.  Gas was in the mid 30s in NY, but as we got closer and closer to TX the gas price went down and down, and by the time we got to TX we were paying about 13 cents a gallon.

[rkacruiser]

17 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Community efforts to create something “welcoming “ must cost something, which has to be paid for somehow.

 

Correct and that is what the local Occupancy tax is supposed to be doing.  

[rkacruiser]

17 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Community efforts to create something “welcoming “ must cost something, which has to be paid for somehow.

 

Correct and that is what the local Occupancy tax is supposed to be doing.  

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

It isn't transparent, you have to seek it out on the receipt.  And since I almost always pay with a credit card and I don't ask for a receipt, I'd have to change and kill some trees getting a receipt.

 

It works the other way as well.  I've bought several items from an online European billiard supply company called Kozoom, and the first time I bought something I was surprised that the site said (making up the numbers) a cue cost 300 euros, but when I checked out it was only 270 euros because I wasn't subject to VAT.  It was a nice surprise.

 

I'm a big fan of transparency in taxes.  I wish they would eliminate paycheck withholding for income tax.  I think people would be a lot more aware if they had to write a check rather that have it taken out without ever seeing it.  Sure you can look at the paystub to see how much was withheld, but it doesn't have the same impact as writing a check.

👍 I used to work for a firm that prepared income tax returns. No one ever asked how much tax they had paid, just what the refund or the amount owed was. There was one year, IIRC back during the Nixon administration, when the withholding rate was lowered and consequently with less withholding people either got less back or owed more. That they noticed, not that they had a few more dollars each paycheck with the lower withholding.