Unlike Santa, governments want at least some residents to be a little “naughty” and continue do things it considers harmful so it can collect “sin taxes” on their behavior.
Like most states, Colorado and Texas do not have legislative or gubernatorial elections in 2019. Still, their voters are facing tricky, and potentially far-reaching, tax...
Policymakers concerned about the growth of vaping activity could ban vaping products. Or they could try to use taxes to discourage the practice. There are advantages and disadvantages to each policy option. The issue is complicated, because an e-cigarette and its products can be used in many ways with sometimes-conflicting effects.
The idea of a sales tax exemption makes sense if a state is trying to encourage first-time purchases of pricey goods like an energy efficient refrigerator. But for products that most residents will buy anyway—like school supplies—it doesn’t.
