Sales Tax

My colleague Jill Rosen wrote this week that retailers are pushing back-to-school shopping in July, far earlier than usual. But if you want to save sales tax - or 6 percent on certain purchases - do your back-to-school or other shopping between August 14 and the 20 th .  Maryland sales tax won't be assessed on apparel and footwear that is $100 or less. Accessories will be taxed no matter what the price. Maryland's comptroller posts a list online of items eligible for the tax holiday.

Taken right out of the Bill Clinton handbook, Gov. Martin O'Malley floats a trial balloon and suggests a hike in the state's gas tax only to alter the plan and now suggest an increase in the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent. Is this man on the same planet as we the taxpayers? Doesn't he know how much the people who pay taxes are hurting? Raising these taxes goes to the gut of people who are still fortunate to be employed. Perhaps the "New Americans" the governor is so fond of can afford the tax hike and pay for the new roads and bridges only they will be using.

It is amazing that the U.S. Senate has been paralyzed to the extent that it is unable to pass legislation favored by 90 percent of Americans requiring simple background checks on gun purchasers but at the same time is poised to sock it to consumers by requiring Internet marketers to collect state and local sales tax on online purchases ("Click and pay," April 24). While The Sun's editors argue that the present sales tax collection system gives out-of-state Internet marketers an unfair advantage over in-state marketers, they ignore the fact that in-state sellers have an inherent advantage over online sellers: They are closer to the consumer and the point of delivery and therefore have substantially lower delivery costs than out-of-state sellers.

Gov. Martin O'Malley on Wednesday floated the idea of adding one cent to the sales tax to address Maryland's budget problems, saying the money would give the state "flexibility" to pay for programs and to borrow more for road projects. "If I had my druthers, I'd rather do the one penny on the sales tax," O'Malley said during a radio interview before an audience in Annapolis. "That's what I'd like to do. … That one penny could solve the problem. " A 7 percent rate would give Maryland the second-highest sales tax in the country, along with five other states.

To help solve a budget deficit estimated at $1.2 billion next year, Maryland lawmakers are weighing whether to expand the state sales tax to items and services now exempt. There is also a proposal to raise the tax from 5 percent to 6 percent.The Evening Sun would like to hear whether you think a 1 percent increase in the sales tax would be a fair way to raise revenues, whether the tax should stay the same but cover more items and services, or whether either approach is necessary.To register your opinion, call SUNDIAL at 783-1800 (or 268-7736 in Anne Arundel County)

Retailers sell sizzle, not steak. That fact has become so commonplace in the retail community, from used car lots to grocery stores to front yard lemonade stands, that it's more shocking to find a product rounded to $5 than one marked $4.99. Stores don't trumpet full retail prices; they have sales and limited-time offers or "buy one, get one free" deals. Prices fluctuate, and consumers react to those mark-ups and mark-downs - or not, depending on how motivated they are by modest differences in price.

Some people may object to Gov.Martin O'Malley's proposal to raise the sales tax to "pay for highway and transit projects" ("O'Malley looks at sales tax increase for roads," April 4). Well, why not? It seems perfectly logical, since we are using gas tax proceeds to pay for windmills and lottery receipts to subsidize light rail projects! Here's an idea for the governor: let's use bottle tax revenue to pave pot-holed streets and build new schools in Baltimore! Such logical thinking could easily propel him into the vice president's office next fall!

I see in the Sunpapers that Maryland wants to tax us on the things we buy on the Internet ("Bill to require sales tax for online purchases advances in Senate," April 22). Don't we pay enough taxes now? The state seems to tax everything that is not nailed down. We need to vote these people out of office. Who are these people telling us that the gas tax will be lower? You know that will never happen. Our motto for Maryland should be, "The state that taxes us to death. " Gerald Yamin, Pikesville Text NEWS to 70701 to get Baltimore Sun local news text alerts

It is wrong to collect sales tax from online sales by the state where the customer lives ("Senate OKs online sales tax" May 6). If I take the highway to another state, I pay tax in that state. If I take the information superhighway, I should pay sales tax in the point-of-sale state. This is most likely the state where the store is located or where the product was created, manufactured, processed, warehoused, designed, grown, etc. Sales tax should not be a way for state governments to make money without contributing anything to the commerce process.