Going to the Movies Is Going to Cost More. Thank the Republicans

The new republican majority in the NC General Assembly gave rich people and corporations a big tax break, but you people who enjoy an occasional evening out at the movies are going to have to make it up. Sales taxes on entertainment are going up.

Yeah. Raised taxes on the middle class.

Picayune

NC Senate Grandee Marc Basnight is calling for new state taxes on booze and tobacco to help make up the expected short-fall in state revenue.

Currently, the state taxes cigarettes at 35 cents a pack. According to the N&O, the taxes on tobacco products raised a mere $241 million in 2007, or 1.3 percent of general fund tax collections. In other words, current tobacco taxes are a mere drop in a very large bucket.

According to the N&O, each 1-cent increase in the cigarette tax is projected to raise only an additional $5.35 million. With the projected budget gap now growing to near $3 billion, according to some estimates, Basnight would have to raise the cigarette tax, say, $14.00-a-pack to make a dent in that deficit.

The tax collection figures for alcohol are even worse. Each 1-cent increase per gallon on beer, for example, would generate a measly $1.9 million annually.

Mark Twain might suggest that this state has been neglecting its vices outrageously.