WorldWide Drilling Resource

59 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® APRIL 2015 Bizarre State Taxes! Compiled by Bonnie Love, Editor WorldWide Drilling Resource ® Every Apri l, people around the country grit their teeth and pull out their hair to get those pesky tax returns filled out and in the mail. We wanted to light- en the moment by sharing some of the strangest state taxes on the books. Shuffling a deck of cards can cost you more than a poker pot in Alabama. Anyone who purchases a deck of play- ing cards containing less than 54 cards is charged a ten-cent tax per deck. Re- tailers are also charged $2 per year to sell them. Arkansas charges a 6% sales tax on tattoos, body piercing, and electrolysis hair removal. If you purchase fresh fruit from a vending machine in California you are subject to a 33% vending machine fruit tax. I’m still not sure why you would want to purchase fresh fruit from a vending machine, but I certainly won’t do it in California! Nonessential packaging for food and drink items are hit with a 2.9% sales and use tax in Colorado. So, even though the cup for your drink is essential, the lid is not. Just like the wrapper on your burger is considered essential, but napkins are not. In Hawaii, landowners can deduct up to $3000 from their income for expens- es related to pruning and fertilizing any tree designated as rare, big, old, or any combination of the three. The state’s exceptional tree tax allowance can only be claimed every third year and the work has to be done by a certified arborist. Got a sweet tooth? Well you may not want to purchase your candy in Illinois. This is a strange one, because not all candy is made, or taxed equally. Candy containing flour (such as WHOPPERS, KIT KAT, and CRUNCH bars) are not subject to the state’s flour-free candy tax of 6.25%. In TheWizard of Oz, the great wizard offers to take Dorothy back to Kansas in his hot air balloon. That balloon ride would get a tax break since it is consid- ered transportation, but balloon rides which are tethered to the ground are taxed as an amusement ride in Kansas. Maine’s official state berry is the wild blueberry. In fact, the state produces 99% of the wild blueberries in the U.S., so it should come as no surprise they are taxed. The blueberry tax is charged to anyone who grows, purchases, sells, handles, or processes blueberries. The tax money is intended to fund research to keep Maine’s blueberry industry com- petitive with other states and Canada. What is a centenarian? A centenari- an is a person who lives to be 100, and they are an increas- ing population in t he U.S. Be - tween 1980 and 2010, the cen- tenarian popu- lation increased from 32,194 to 53,364 which is mo r e t han a 65% increase, while the total population in- creased only about 36%. In New Mexico, once you be- come a cente- narian, you are no longer charged state income taxes. Bagel lovers beware! In New York, if you order a bagel which has been sliced, or topped in any way (yes, even with just a schmear of cream cheese) it is subject to an eight-cent per bagel tax. Even with an untopped, unsliced bagel, if you eat it in the store you purchased it from, you will still be charged the tax. The only way to avoid the tax is to take the unsliced bagel out of the store and slice it yourself. They say everything is bigger in Texas and that is certainly true of belt buckles. Some of the largest belt buckles I have ever seen were in Texas, but I had no idea the state actually imposes a 6.25% belt buckle tax for each one. In Virginia, they are counting sheep; not in an effort to fall asleep, but to collect the fifty-cent excise tax on each lamb or sheep sold in the state. The money is primarily used for predator control. There were plenty of others, but these were some of the silliest ones I could find (or personally experienced). According to Benjamin Franklin, “In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes,” and I couldn’t have said it better myself. Comedian and centenar- ian, George Burns said, “you know you're getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and won- der what else you could do while you're down there.” Photo by Allan Warren courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Focus on Tennessee Act now to attend the Tennessee Water Well Association (TWWA) Annual Meeting & Trade Show! It is April 10-11, at the Park Vista Hotel in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Friday morning, concurrent classes will be offered on topics such as water dynamics, Tennessee’s call before you dig service, variable frequency drives, and construction of submersible pumps. The trade show opens at noon, so there’s plenty of time to view the offerings and speak with company representatives about their displays before the big dinner gathering at 6:30 p.m. This year, the dinner is combined with the JoLinda Watson Scholarship Fund auction. Bring something to donate, and be prepared to bid so you can help future water well professionals go to school. Everything is appreciated! Join WWDR for a great time! More seminars are set for Saturday, along with the ladies auxiliary meeting, TWWA business meeting, and TWWA board meeting. For more information, e-mail info@tnwaterwellassociation.org or call 865-761-4363 Trooper Wyatt from the Tennessee Highway Patrol will cover the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. WWWWDDRR photo. After failing in Pennsylvania’s oilfields, this man committed the unthinkable on April 14, 1865. Do you know who he is? Check page 62 to see. “The farther you look back, the farther you can look ahead.” h Henry Ford