By Tony Huppert, CEO, Team Oil Inc.
The time is now for sales tax collection reform to be taken seriously. Governors in states are suggesting that state gas tax be replaced with sales tax and that income tax be off set by raising the sales tax.
I realize this is the ancient known shell game, but these are desperate times for these governors. Raising gas tax to offset higher mileage vehicles, electric cars and other alternative fuel vehicles is not popular.
We either hear of states raiding the transportation fund to balance the general fund or the other way around. First of all, transportation benefits the general population. The transportation infrastructure in this country benefits all, so if money has to move around, so be it.
The big problem is politicians trying to cover up the collection process by calling it something else, and having the collection expense moved to the retailer. It cost the retailer 6% of the sales tax collected to process the tax money, at the retailers’ expense. State governments know if they can push everything onto sales tax, the government’s collection expense goes down.
Retailers on the other hand are illegally being forced to ‘take their private money to collect money for public use without proper compensation,’ when Amendment 5 of the U.S. Constitution clearly states this is wrong.
Very seldom is a problem of this magnitude so obvious. What is obvious is the lack of knowledge of the problem and the expense to the retailer.
We always hear from top politicians, “The Buck stops here.” Now the expense of collecting that Buck is passed onto the retailer.
Tony Huppert is a Wisconsin businessman of 40 years and CEO of Team Oil Inc., the family-owned and operated Team Oil Travel Center, and Subway in Spring Valley, Wis.