Costco Manager Shows Just How Ridiculous New Seattle Sugar Tax Is

[mikeyp]

Here's what the news reports didn't tell you, there's a legal way to avoid paying it, simply make those purchases with an EBT card, which are exempt from the tax.
I see a big spike in EBT fraud coming soon in Seattle.

....of course there is

 

[ToddDubya]

Here's what the news reports didn't tell you, there's a legal way to avoid paying it, simply make those purchases with an EBT card, which are exempt from the tax.
I see a big spike in EBT fraud coming soon in Seattle.

How does this affect the price if it's not a tax intended to be passed onto the consumer. Technically the tax is not collected at the register.

 

[amm5061]

Here's what the news reports didn't tell you, there's a legal way to avoid paying it, simply make those purchases with an EBT card, which are exempt from the tax.
I see a big spike in EBT fraud coming soon in Seattle.

Well that's f***ing brilliant.... Let's make the people who are most likely to buy this shit, and most vulnerable to the effects of the things we're worried about (diabetes, hypoglycemia, etc.), completely immune to the effect that we are (I'm guessing) trying to achieve.

Honestly, the tax should only apply to people paying with EBT, but then those in power in Seattle would lose basically their entire voting base.

How does this affect the price if it's not a tax intended to be passed onto the consumer. Technically the tax is not collected at the register.

Isn't Costco considered a wholesaler, and therefore required to collect the tax? But if you want to ask this question, go look at how Value Added Tax jacks up the cost of products in Europe.

 

[ToddDubya]

Isn't Costco considered a wholesaler, and therefore required to collect the tax? But if you want to ask this question, go look at how Value Added Tax jacks up the cost of products in Europe.

I don't know if they're a wholesaler (or if that even matters) but the tax is collected by the distributor. So when Costco buys it, they pay the tax.

Sweetened beverage tax
Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, the City of Seattle will impose a sweetened beverage tax. View Ordinance 125324.

The sweetened beverage tax is a tax on the distribution of sweetened beverages in the city of Seattle. The tax is collected on the final distribution of sweetened beverages by a distributor. The tax is not collected by the retailer nor is the tax burden intended to fall onto the consumer. The intent of the sweetened beverage tax is to tax the distributions of sweetened beverages into Seattle for retail sale in Seattle.

Sweetened beverage tax - Business License Tax | seattle.gov

 

[amm5061]

I don't know if they're a wholesaler (or if that even matters) but the tax is collected by the distributor. So when Costco buys it, they pay the tax.

Sweetened beverage tax
Beginning Jan. 1, 2018, the City of Seattle will impose a sweetened beverage tax. View Ordinance 125324.

The sweetened beverage tax is a tax on the distribution of sweetened beverages in the city of Seattle. The tax is collected on the final distribution of sweetened beverages by a distributor. The tax is not collected by the retailer nor is the tax burden intended to fall onto the consumer. The intent of the sweetened beverage tax is to tax the distributions of sweetened beverages into Seattle for retail sale in Seattle.

Sweetened beverage tax - Business License Tax | seattle.gov

But you can't tax one part of the distribution chain and not expect that the cost will be passed along further down the line. Any taxes on products at any point in the distribution chain will inevitably be passed along to the consumer in the form of higher prices on those products.

 

[ToddDubya]

But you can't tax one part of the distribution chain and not expect that the cost will be passed along further down the line. Any taxes on products at any point in the distribution chain will inevitably be passed along to the consumer in the form of higher prices on those products.

Of course. The city thinks knows the tax will get passed onto the customer but they write it the way they do so the stores have to be the bad guys. All I was saying was this isn't a tax collected at the register so I don't see how an EBT card would bypass paying it (other than the buyer doesn't care because it isn't his/her money).

 

[JJ4]

If the tax is collected by the distributed when it's sold to the retailers, I don't see how an EBT customer would get out of paying the tax. It's built into the new price and not a consumer tax.

 

[42!]

The tax is not collected by the retailer nor is the tax burden intended to fall onto the consumer.

Do the people really buy this shit, that the distributor or manufacturer is going to just absorb the extra cost? There are some very stupid people out their.

 

[firestorm]

So this could be solved by having the distributor deliver only to stores outside the city, then use the retailer's own trucks to ship it into the city? Additional cost, but probably a lot less than the tax.

 

[NewGuyRay]

So now we'll see the city of Seattle conducting armed raids of grocers around the city, seizing purchase records in an effort to find scofflaws who are sourcing their soda from outside of city limits to evade the tax.

Does the sugary products' labeling include a tax stamp to indicate that the distributor paid the tax on the product?

Could be a great racket for a small grocer to purchase the soda outside of city limits, avoid the sugar tax and then sell the soda at the fully taxed price in their store and profit from the tax they never paid.

 

[Coyote33]

 

[KBCraig]

The funny thing about the movie, is that at the time, Texarkana Texas was dry ("dry like a martini", but still legally dry).

Texarkana Arkansas was wet, but as the movie plot accurately states, you couldn't buy Coors east of Texas at that time. The closest place to buy Coors in Texas then was Domino or Annona, both 20-30 miles outside Texarkana.

 

[Qwikdraw45]

yikes. first of all I would never live in that state let alone that city. But if I did I would be doing all my shopping outside of the city. But it is good to see that this liberal stupidity isn't going to get a free pass. My guess is most of the sheep in seattle will comply...lol

The people who are most likely to need to stop drinking soda, et al. , are probably the ones who are so poor that they can't afford to travel to the suburbs to buy it for less.

I just want E85 to be readily available everywhere.

Cheap horsepower.

That's what I thought when it first hit our town in AZ. Then I found out that, even though it was cheaper, you got a lot less mileage out of it. Enough that regular gas ("only 10% ethanol") was the better buy.

They havent stopped at soda.....soda is just most recent

Fffs....its a federal crime to use lots of things in a manner that is not consistent with the bloody label

Pesticides and other products carry the following

“It is a violation of Federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling.”

From meds, to food to chemicals and virtually everything else you come in contact with every day

Hell......I would challenge you to name 5 things you commonly interact with that are NOT managed by the Fed gov......

Then maybe someone can get an injunction for that school in MA to stop issuing wasp spray as a defensive option.

Guessing the correlation between soda consumption and obesity is pretty darn good. Outliers are nice, we can keep eating things that are likely bad for us because we might be one. Alcohol and tobacco are taxed to the hilt because they are bad for you, throwing soda on the pile isn't far fetched. New taxes suck, and sin taxes in whole are morally questionable, but we gots them and they ain't going anywhere. Taxing ammo is a great idea cause then the gov't would have an incentive for people to shoot more. lolz

It's everywhere. Florida taxes items such as ice cream and candy bars (regular sales tax). They charge for a cake mix, but don't charge on a single serving of "cake to go" at the deli. Go figure.