50 New taxes proposed in Virginia

-Introduction of a 10% top income tax bracket for individuals earning in excess of one million dollars annually (HB 188).

- Consideration of alternative proposals (HB 979) to establish two additional higher-income tax brackets at 8% and 10%.

- Implementation of a 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax (HB 378) applicable to capital gains, dividends, and rental income for taxpayers with a modified adjusted gross income exceeding $500,000.

- Enactment of a Corporate Welfare Tax (HB 243) targeting corporations receiving substantial public economic incentives.

- Legislation (HB 900 and HB 978) aims to broaden the sales tax to encompass numerous previously exempted services, including:

- Digital Services: Taxation of streaming platforms (such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime), digital audio services, and electronic books.

- Personal Care Services: Taxation of haircuts, dog walking, and pet grooming services.

- Home and Vehicle Maintenance: Taxation of home repairs, automotive repairs, and dry cleaning services.

- Leisure Activities: Taxation of gym memberships, rental of storage facilities, and counseling services.

- Event Tax: Introduction of a tax on concerts and various public events.

- Retail Delivery Fee: A charge of twenty cents on all retail deliveries (via platforms such as Amazon, Uber Eats, DoorDash, FedEx, UPS) within Northern Virginia.

- Rideshare Tax: A 4.3% tax imposed on rideshare trips (Uber, Lyft), with an additional surcharge of 1.9% on trips originating in Northern Virginia.

- Regional Sales Tax Increases: Authorization to augment sales taxes within designated transportation districts, including an increase from 0.385% to 0.615% in Northern Virginia.

- Electric Equipment Tax: A new personal property tax targeting specific electric landscaping tools, such as electric leaf blowers and other electrically powered gardening equipment.

- Gun and Ammunition Tax: A novel tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition.

- Large Employer Tax: A levy on major corporations proportionate to the size of their workforce.

- Confederate Organization Property Tax: Legislation (HB 167) proposing the removal of property tax exemptions for organizations such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

ArishMell · 70-79, M

I am intigued by all that differentiation. It looks very complicated. Very low rates though.

Essentially they propose income- and purchase- taxes, and a form of corporation-tax.

Usual income-tax is not set by your trade, simply by your salary or investment-income; often with a threshold to protect the poorest-paid. It covers both employers - e.g. the factory-worker - and the self-employed like the dog-groomer and many building trades-people

Some countries use "Pay As You Earn", so your income-tax is paid by your employer, and your pay-slip quotes your gross pay, the deductions (mainly tax and company pension contributions), and the nett pay that typically passes straight into your bank-account. This avoids the revenue service having to ask most employees, but not the self-employed, for annual tax returns.

Purchase-taxes are simple percentage takes of any product or service retail price, but it is fair to exempt certain ones like foods, hygiene and medical products and services. It would cover the gym use (purchased services) as well as the garden tools (purchased goods). Odd that they differentiate between power types for the latter. If it's a leaf-blower, it's a leaf-blower.

Many countries use Value Added Tax, which is undeniably complicated for businesses, but to the end-customer is simply a purchase-tax.

VAT varies considerably in scope and value from country to country, and is presently very high, at 20% for most things, here in the UK.

Though despite the very simple approach to income and sales taxes and widespread use of PAYE, we also suffer from one of the most complicated tax regimes in the world, thanks in part to its piecemeal development over a very long time.