Pay More Taxes

R. Robert Linowes, whose commission has come up with a proposal for a drastic restructuring of Maryland's tax system, says last week's election makes him think the plan will be well-received -- despite taxpayer anger that helped change the face of politics in Maryland.Mr. Linowes says voter antipathy for taxes has been overstated and misread."This has not been a no-new-tax, no-additional-tax election in Maryland," he said. "In three counties, the [tax cap] issue was on the ballot. Two counties [Anne Arundel and Baltimore]

Today - April 23 rd - is Tax Freedom Day for Marylanders, according to a survey by the Tax Foundation. That means we've earned enough money to pay this year's federal, state and local taxes. But on a national average, Tax Freedom Day for Americans occurred last week, April 17 th . So we have to work six extra days to pay off our tax bills. Other findings from the Tax Foundation: Marylanders aren't paying the highest taxes. Tax Freedom Day is May 5 th in Connecticut, May 1 in New Jersey and New York.

More than 91 percent of respondents to "It's Your Call" think government has been slow to react to a demand by residents for curbside recycling. Among 616 respondents, 563 agree with this position, while 53 (nearly 9 percent) say government has not been slow to react.Among 610 respondents, 344 (more than 56 percent) say they would be willing to pay more in taxes to hasten the start of roadside pickup, while 266 (nearly 44 percent) say they would not be willing to pay more taxes."It's Your Call" represents a sampling of opinions from certain segments of the community, but it is not balanced demographically as would be done in a scientific public opinion poll.

Slots are a bad idea whose time, according to the polls, has come. Support for more gambling is on the rise. Anybody know why? A combination of boredom and exasperation, perhaps? We're tired of seeing government pinned to the wall by a single issue? There are legislators who want the whole thing over with so other problems can be addressed. But, of course, the real motivator is the economy. The state is cutting its budget deeply as the recession (officially declared or not) chokes off sales and income tax revenue.

Poll on race distorts concerns about Obama After reading Sunday's article "Poll suggests that racism hurts Obama's chances" (Sept. 21), well, I'm not even sure where to begin. First, the poll itself had a slanted purpose as "the pollsters set out to determine why Obama is locked in a close race." The presumption in the article is that the race should not even be close given the negatives faced by the Republicans and Sen. John McCain. If Sen. Barack Obama isn't ahead by a wide margin, then apparently the reason must be racism.

The most common problems that slow down the processing of Maryland tax returns, according to the state comptroller's office, are:Rounding, Decimal Points and Commas: All dollar figures should be rounded to the nearest dollar. (50 cents and above to the next higher dollar, 49 cents and below to the next lower.) They should be in blue or black ink without decimal points, commas or dollar signs.Standard Deduction: Maryland's standard deduction is 15 percent of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income, subject to minimum and maximum amounts.

Taxpayers have paid enoughI agree with both Kay and Hale Harrison that the dunes in Ocean City did a lot to save damage to O.C. property owners (Forum, Jan. 14). The cooperative effort was made by the taxpayers of all 50 states.Mr. Harrison stated that the dunes in many places were destroyed. Do he and other business people in O.C. expect the taxpayers of all 50 states to rebuild their beaches and property every year, or even every other year?They should never have built there if they can't take care of their property themselves.

Even as a gubernatorial panel meets to consider another big rise in the gasoline tax, the Linowes commission studying Maryland's tax structure recommends a different approach that would put less of the onus for road construction on middle-class citizens. It proposes a 2 percent tax on the annual value of an individual's motor vehicles.How would this help the average car owner? By having the tax reflect a person's wealth, not how often he or she needs another tank of gas. Those who can afford $30,000-plus luxury autos can also afford to pay more in taxes.

It's a catastrophe. It's something we have to do. It's really no big deal.It's a federal deficit reduction plan that increases taxes on gasoline, alcohol, tobacco and high-income families, puts new taxes on luxury items and puts a crimp in health-care coverage for the elderly. It has brought the predictable howls of protest from those who would pay the freight ifthe proposals pass Congress and shrugs of indifference from others."My rights are being violated," stormed Marsha E. Reed, a sales clerk at Hecht's in Harford Mall.

PARIS - Pumping gasoline into his scooter at the rate of about $3.65 a gallon, Pascal Moullec is having a little trouble feeling sorry for Americans who grumble about the high cost of filling up. "But it is so much cheaper there," Moullec said with disbelief Wednesday at a service station near the Eiffel Tower. "That's why Americans can drive such big cars. They are so lucky. It's really not fair - everyone should have to pay the same price." Moullec, who works in a hotel, pays the equivalent of about $80 a month to fuel his scooter and tiny car. So forgive people in Europe if they don't exactly get it when they read that Americans are alarmed by the prospect of paying $1.75 a gallon this summer, or even $3 a gallon in a few panic-stricken parts of the country.

Obama's tax plan would cause job cuts The typical liberal "class-ism" argument suggests that "working-class" families deserve a tax break while the "rich" should pay more taxes to fund whatever social programs liberals consider appropriate. It is amazing that some individuals feel so entitled to spend other people's money. Currently, the top 5 percent of U.S. wage-earners pay approximately 35 percent of the total federal income taxes collected, and the top 25 percent of wage-earners pay more than 65 percent of the taxes.

When the real budget crunch comes - sometime soon - we may see a re-enactment of the "firefighters first" syndrome. The concept involves a kind of aggressive tutorial on what government does with your tax money. Here's how it works: You're a mayor or governor who needs to raise money to make the budget work. Knowing that no one wants to pay more taxes, you announce that matters are so dire that cuts will be made in the fire department. This gets people's attention. It suggests that taxes pay for essential services.

Letting the boss fly to the Super Bowl on the corporate jet is going to be more expensive, the Treasury Department said yesterday as it issued guidance regarding the tax law passed by Congress last fall. The department said that any time a senior executive of a company uses a corporate airplane for entertainment, such as flying to the Super Bowl or to a golf tournament, the company will not be able to deduct the expenses of the flight unless the executive pays a high amount of personal taxes.

The Carroll County legislative delegation's hearing yesterday was to focus on eight proposed local bills, but nearly all the debate centered on one -- the transfer tax. Almost 50 people, in a crowd of more than 100, commented on a proposed 1 percent tax that would be levied on home sales at the time they are settled. The buyer of a single-family home costing $300,000, the average price in the county, would pay a $3,000 transfer tax. The county commissioners have asked the delegation to enact the tax, which could yield as much as $7.5 million next year.

THREE OF the state's most experienced and highly regarded students of government finance offered their views on how to deal with Maryland's deficit during a sparsely attended forum last week at St. John's College in Annapolis. For the most part, they left politics out of their equations. Call it fiscal tennis without a net, but it was a scintillating exchange nonetheless. Two days later, on the campus of the General Assembly, the net was up -- way up. James C. "Chip" DiPaula Jr., Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s estimable budget secretary, said increased education funding hinges on passing a slot machine gambling bill.

Carroll countians don't react kindly to the notion of raising taxes. So the county's three Republican commissioners, having proposed to do just that, are trying to stave off public anger by linking the increase to the very message that got them elected: that residential growth has raced ahead of the county's ability to pay for schools, water and roads. "Of course the last thing any of us wanted was to raise taxes, but we have good reasons for it, and if we explain that well, people will understand," said first-term Commissioner Dean L. Minnich.

In public hearings last week, an overwhelming majority of Howard County citizens urged against increasing the piggyback income tax. The county council and the county executive have done just that, choosing instead to levy a host of user fees and a tax on hotel and motel stays to keep services at existing levels. "I think the citizens of this county are already hard-hit with taxes," said Mr. Ecker. "I know this is a wealthy county, but we also have poor people and people on fixed incomes who can't afford to pay more taxes."

Don't clean up budget mess by raising taxes In reading Steve Hill's article "Why Maryland should raise taxes" (Opinion Commentary, March 13), it was obvious why the author has been successful in the not-for-profit sector where every penny earned must be spent. Never mind balancing the budget - Mr. Hill is already spending the extra money he sees coming to the state through his proposed tax increases. It is these "tax-and-spend" policies that Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has been saddled with as Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend ride off into the sunset.