Taxes=Bad, Infographics=Good, Infographic on Bad Taxes=Good?

It's not exactly a Friday Fun Link, but I got my W2 in the mail yesterday, which makes this handy infographic on America's Most Bizarre Taxes—apparently sponsored by TurboTax (and brought to you via Marginal Revolution)—feel timely:

I've written about the bagel tax here, and candy taxes here. 

Comments

[Almanian]

Jesus CHRIST that startled me! It's certainly very colorful...

[James Ard]

Who wouldn't support a tax on trick noise makers?

[Colonel_Angus]

Do Uno cards get taxed under the playing card tax in Maryland?

[Jackson & Sharpton, LLC]

Do race cards get taxed?

[Pro Libertate]

Only when used for financial gain or in games of chance.

[R]

So....yes?

[Alan]

For #7, we had best ask the Alabama Department of Revenue about this Maryland law?

Also, will playing-card producers introduce a 3rd Joker card to their packs? This one with an image of a modern politician, of course.

[Barely Suppressed Rage]

Don't forget the carpet tacks!

[Spoonman.]

The "playing card one" says it's in Maryland but cites the Alabama Department of Revenue.

[curiousgeorge]

I was just about to point this out. Kind of lends doubt to the validity of all the facts listed in the graphic.

[Colonel_Angus]

Whether or not this list is accurate, we already know stupid paternalist taxes like this are too common.

[Pro Libertate]

Hard not to think of "Taxman" at a time like this:

(if you drive a car, car;) - I'll tax the street;
(if you try to sit, sit;) - I'll tax your seat;
(if you get too cold, cold;) - I'll tax the heat;
(if you take a walk, walk;) - I'll tax your feet.

[Matrix]

33% tax on fruit in a vending machine?!?! Holy friggin' crap, that's high!

[Pro Libertate]

Children's health is well and good, but fiscal health of the state is far more important.

[Pro Libertate]

Or maybe that's better stated this way: Fiscal health trumps physical health every time.

[Joe M]

Fiscal, physical, tomayto, tomahto.

[Joe M]

Fiscal, physical, tomayto, tomahto. Let's call the whole thing off.

[Pro Libertate]

Physicistical?

[SugarFree]

The Physics Tomato.

[Pro Libertate]

Don't drive me to physicisticuffs.

[SugarFree]

"Give me your Physical Tomato, baby. I want it bad."

[The one pimp in Black Dynamite]

I'm having my worst physical year ever.

[Joe M]

The crack tax is laugh out loud hilarious. Anonymous payments?! Too perfectly stupid.

[Joe M]

And I see, sadly, that's the only tax that isn't still in effect.

[Jerry]

Of course they're not anonymous, the tax is meant to catch stupid criminals. It should work perfectly for Tennessee.

[Joe M]

Because criminals are concerned about paying their taxes. You'd have to be stupid and suffering cognitive dissonance.

[Jerry]

For crying out loud, it's Tennessee we're talking about here. *ducks*

[H man]

This is just to add an extra charge when someone is caught holding.

[Old Mexican]

People who refuse to pay their Jock Tax are nothing more than free riders who want to enjoy civilization without paying for it! Uh, says Tony.

Ok, ok, but those that refuse to pay their Blueberry Tax are freeloaders who do not want to "give back" 33% of their income to the "society" from which they "take" so much!

Uh, says Chad.

[T]

North Carolina's personal property tax on your dog dates back to at least the early 90s. I remember an article in the post newspaper reminding everyone to pay their dog tax. I also remember being horrified they would tax your dog.

I was young and innocent then. Now I'm surprised they grant you an exemption for the ones under 4 months old.

[Zeb]

I think that the dog tax is pretty common. Most places call it "registration".

[Tony]

What a pointless article. Always bitching about taxes. Get a new song and dance routine.

[Pro Libertate]

Please stop your violent rhetoric.

[SugarFree]

Maximal irony reached. Prepare to evacuate planet.

[Pro Libertate]

AGI is a serious threat. You will not mock it!

[SugarFree]

You mocked me once! NEVER DO IT AGAIN!

[Pro Libertate]

Is that Buttercup?

[heller]

Don't hate on Tony, he's just being consistent. Last week Tony's neighbors got robbed. When they started telling him about it he told them to shut the fuck up and accept it.

[sevo]

Tony|1.21.11 @ 3:47PM|#
"What a pointless article. Always bitching about taxes. Get a new song and dance routine."

What a stupid shit.
Of course bitching about truly *STUPID* taxes is, well, unfashionable, right asshole?

[Aresen]

When I saw a "jock tax" in California, I thought it referred to the article of clothing and hoped it wasn't based on the size of the cup. California is already expensive. I wouldn't have been able to afford it with the additional carrying charge.

[Maurice]

I would guess the fur coat tax is less an animal rights thing than a soak-the-rich thing. There is no sales tax on clothing in Minnesota except, apparently, fur coats.

[sevo]

Hell of a market in furs right over there in Wisconsin.

[guy in the back row]

I just noticed New York City now has a "take out tax" (might be a surcharge) on food you buy in a drive through.

[anarch]

Isn't that for Mafia hitmen to pay?

[Taxman]

You people want a posting tax? No? Then just STFU or else YOU'RE next.

[Oso Politico]

What is needed is a new paradigm.

Simply declare any income or compensation the property of the State.

Instead of income tax returns, subjects file life style support requests.

Then an extremely large but competent bureaucracy judges each request to determine which ones are most socially justified.

By the way, I picked this idea up in some radical novel by this crazy lady - what's her name...

[R C Dean]

It Takes A Village, by H. Clinton?

[Oso Politico]

Ding, ding, ding - but thanks for playing anyway...

[l0b0t]

It's hard to beat the stupidity of Federal firearms taxes. By way of example - The Mossberg 500 12ga. shotgun is available in several models, all of which include a full buttstock and a pistol grip. Some models ship from the factory with the full stock attached and the pistol grip loose in the box, some ship with the pistol grip attached and the full stock loose in the box. If one wants to cut down the barrel length of one's Mossberg 500 to

[l0b0t]

Damn squirrels
... under 14 inches, one must purchase an annual tax stamp from the BATFE. If the weapon being shortened shipped with full buttstock attached, it is classified as SBS (short-barreled shotgun) and requires a $250.00 stamp. If, however, the weapon shipped with the pistol grip attached, it is classified as an AOW (Any Other Weapon) and requires only a $5.00 tax stamp.

[lifeguard anarch]

Number 6, where "nude or partially nude individuals perform any service"

And there was no one left to speak up for me.

[Just Dropping By]

I'm very confused by the New York "litigation tax." Every court that I'm aware of charges some sort of "filing fee" for civil cases unless the litigant makes a forma pauperis showing. How is a flat $25 "litigation tax" different from a filing fee?

[danwgre]

Litigation tax? OMG, this might be the first tax I would ever be in favor of raising (fuck, make it 30-40-50%).... Can we also impose a legislation tax? Lawmakers (out of their own pockets) must pay a tax on every bill that they pass.

[Bill]

A few years ago I ran my own small LLC here in Virginia. While poring over various forms and regulations I discovered that, at least at the time, Virginia had an "Egg Excise Tax". Haven't checked lately though...