MARK YOUR CALENDARS … ANOTHER YEAR WITHOUT REAL REFORM IS UPON US
|| By FITSNEWS || This website has railed for years against South Carolina’s “Sales Tax Holiday.”
(In fact here’s our column from three years ago assailing it, and our column from two years ago assailing it).
It’s not that we oppose tax relief … far from it … what we object to is the gimmicky nature of this temporary “cut,” and the fact state lawmakers continue to tout it as some meaningful boost to the consumer economy.
It’s not.
“Our state is substituting the appearance of tax relief for the real thing – and getting away with it because our people are too dumb to know the difference,” we wrote in one of our prior pieces.
Harsh, but true.
For the past sixteen years, Palmetto State taxpayers have saved (collectively) a few million dollars a year on specific items exempted from state and local sales taxes. Again … for one weekend (out of fifty-two).
This “holiday” will go into effect again at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Friday, August 7, 2015 – and run through Sunday, August 9 at midnight.
Certain items – clothing, shoes, book bags, school supplies, computers and printers, to name just a few – will be exempt from the state’s sales tax during that period. If you want to get in the weeds on what is and isn’t exempt, the S.C. Department of Revenue has you covered (.pdf HERE).
Again … we have no problem with the savings provided during this holiday, our problem is with the anti-competitive tax climate that exists in our low-income, small-workforce state. Which this holiday totally glosses over.
Of the forty-five states which assess a sales tax, South Carolina’s combined state and local average of 7.19 percent (according to 2014 data) ranked No. 17 nationally. However, several of the states with higher sales tax rates (Nevada, Tennessee, Texas and Washington State, to name a few) don’t assess an income tax.
More to the point … whatever our state’s tax rates are, they disproportionately and adversely impact our dirt poor citizens.
South Carolina needs to provide broad-based individual income tax relief – which will not only assist individual taxpayers but also small businesses, partnerships and sole proprietorships (which create the vast majority of jobs in the Palmetto State).
Corporate tax cuts are fine, but the big corporations in South Carolina are already paying no taxes. In fact they’re taking our money in the form of government-subsidized incentives. Have such market-distorting subsidies improved our economy?
No. Our state’s workforce is the nation’s sixth-smallest and our citizens income levels are seventh-lowest.
Bottom line? Our state’s consumer economy will never be empowered unless we enact real tax relief, not the same old gimmicks.
68 comments
Meanwhile, I see we had another rampage shooter in another Gun Free Zone in Louisiana, yesterday. Two dead plus (thankfully) the shooter committed suicide. Too bad he didn’t just off himself first. Bunches more were injured. When will the Federal and state lawmakers wake up and smell the dog shit? GFZ’s are only safety zones for criminals!
You’re right, we need to violate property owners’ rights by forcing them to not refuse service to people with guns.
The “Property Owners’ Rights” argument is a bogus reason for giving those stupid “Rape Me/Rob Me/ Shoot Me” signs, force of law. Signs asking people not to wear colognes and perfumes in businesses don’t have force of law, as do many other such signs, despite potentially deadly consequences for some employees, customers, and clients. If a business owner discovers you are armed in his establishment against his or her wishes, they can tell you to leave or go secure your gun in your car. Failure to do so then invokes EXISTING laws regarding trespass after notice. No special law is necessary to “protect property owners’rights”.
If it is found that CWP holders were among the victims and they disarmed in deference to theater policy, I hope they sue the theater chain into bankruptcy for not providing adequate protection for customers in lieu of them being able to protect themselves.
Most of the signs on businesses are not to state specifications. Those that are not, I ignore, but once inside, and if the owner discovers you have a concealed weapon, he can ask you to leave.
I just prefer not to do business in places that indicate they don’t allow weapons, whether the signage is legal or not.
Many businesses in my area have non-enforceable signage, but many also have metal detectors.
I don’t run into many metal detectors thankfully, except for government buildings. There are a few places like SAFE (yeah right) Credit Union that have what appears to be legally binding signage. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I do business with them. Still, the signs should not have force of law. We see how well that prohibition on guns kept out the shooter at the Louisiana theater, same as it will any criminal.
I see many banks in my area with incorrect signage. Sometimes I wonder if they are just doing that to placate the “nervous nellies,” while knowing that people that carry are well-versed with the requirements for signage and can ignore it..
I wonder about that too. The Wacovia I used to frequent had a small, totally non-binding, sign on its door for years, which I just ignored. When they became Wells Fargo, to their credit, they removed it during remodeling and never replaced it. Last year, I took a dying friend to her SAFE credit union so she could withdraw around $10,000 in cash to handle living and final expenses without having to make additional trips to the bank, as such outings drained what little energy she had, greatly. If anyone thinks I wasn’t armed while escorting her into and out of that establishment, well sure, of course I wasn’t. ;-)
Good for you.
What is the correct signage?
It specifies size of the signs, placement in relation to doors and ground,colors, size of lettering, etc. If it doesn’t completely comply, it is not legally binding.
Yeah, that’s pretty standard, like making all STOP signs the same — repetition/eyeballing them everywhere makes it harder to ignore.
“We see how well that prohibition on guns kept out the shooter at the Louisiana theater, same as it will any criminal.”
You are right, elementary logic tells me that “a gun free zone” is an open invitation to mischief if you are a criminal. It just defies common sense.
Winning
If they want to act stupid it is their prerogative. However I don’t have to patronize them either. What really bothers me is govt. offices that I must go to. I leave my gun in my vehicle and am unarmed with no recourse.
That is something that the Legislature could certainly fix; especially with regard to municipal, county, and state offices and buildings.
Exactly. citizens should be allowed to bring guns into the House and Senate Chambers., and when they meet with their Senator or Representative in private.
I see no problem with that, especially since the Legislator could likewise be armed. I believe in either VA or WV, CWP holders can carry inside their Capital building. I sm aware of no bad scenes resulting from that. You see, the CWP holder has undergone a background check and probably some training. In the vast majority of cases, they
Probably a good thing.
Just think,you still have your foot.
I have no problem with any business owner refusing to do business with me because I carry a gun. I take my business into establishments where I feel safer, places that don’t object to legally carried weapons.
Or smokers? Oh that’s different; -) BTW I don’t smoke, I hate to see business owners bullied over a legal product.
Trump hasn’t sent Will an article yet on the GOP establishment boycotting him? Still figuring out how to soon it?
Eh?
Was that not crazy? I haven’t read anything that would explain that shooting and the man was like 58 years old. He just snapped and decided to shoot up a movie theatre? It’s nuts!
I know. I swear, sometimes it is like someone is hitting a button and these people just flip or something.
I know it sounds silly but what if the anti gun nuts were looking for the loose screw types and talking them into these things ? Like the FBI shows the stupid terrorist want-a-bees how to almost make a bomb then arrests them for trying to build a bomb ? With this administration desperate for gun control anything is possible. It makes you wonder.
Believe me, that possibility has entered my mind as well as others’, more than a couple of times.
Actually, it wasn’t the usual snap event. He had been obsessed with a Tea Party lady , emailing all kinds of crazy cap to her.
So he followed her there? Damn! I hadn’t heard about that, yet. Thanks for the fillef!
Details are sketchy I don’t think she was there, but rather told the cops after seeing the guys id.
Great day for RedBox. Of course, what would have been better was five or six “good” guys firing blindly in a dark movie theater. That would have solved it.
That the armed citizens will fire blindly, hitting multiple innocent bystanders, is but one more anti-gunner fantasy that for some reason, just doesn’t serm to be grounded in reality. Like the “blood will flow in the streets” and “it’ll be the Wild West” fantasies they trumpet whenever an attempt is made to liberalize legal civilian carry, it just doesn’t happen like they hope it will. Anti-gunners love to point to the incident where Gabby Giffords was shot and others died as proof of the “fallacy” of armed citizens reducing crimes. What eats their lunch, is that instead of firing wildly at each-other and hitting numerous bystanders, those armed citizens held their fire and did exactly as they should have done in that crowded environ, with some physically restraining the shoooter.
CorruptioninColumbia.. We need to thank the State Ethics Commission which accuses Curtis Loftis , State treasurer of violating state law that says that public officials cannot use their official office to obtain economic interest for “an individual with whom he is associated” . Mike Montgomery got millions, the tax payers of this state lost more than 175 million. The true saving to the tax payers is to put a stop to this fraud and send people like Loftis packing for good.
Oh, heard that Loftis has a house , 353 Shadow race Ln, city of Folly Beach and that he has $14,274.14 in delinquent taxes… Pay your taxes, transparent man… We the tax payers pay our taxes…
Should Michael H. Montgomery be disbarred for accepting to be on the Bank Of NY lawsuit since he is an intimate, long friend and associate of Curtis Loftis.? Loftis is godfather to one of his son…business associate and… Montgomery knows the law and he violated it.. Got millions.. Did he not play a role in costing the state and the state retirees millions in the trust fund. ? FBI, SLED should investigate.
Karma.. Love it.! Curtis Loftis is caught with his pants down… Not a pretty sight. Infected butt , balls and LIES. People new to his Face book should exercise caution before singing his praises. Jeffrey Sewell, Judy Norwood Knight, Suzanne Mays Wehrly, Lee Murray Mills, Lynne Dillehay, Ron Latta, Harry Dubose, John Savage, Rex C Hunter, Josh Koecke, Danny R Sanders, Ken Crowe, Samantha Leitner, Richard Sachs, Betty Cadwell, Diane Rhyne Anderson, Diane Bufkin Creel, Raymond Smith, Michael Murphy, Don Bagel, Carroll Rudolph Smith. Please, be informed so you do not make idiotic fools of yourselves. The investment commission is opened to the public and all meetings are taped. The retiree association welcome all comments and members. Watch the tapes so you can be informed.
It sounds like those who Loftis ha blocked from helping themselves to SC retiree funds are oit in force to smear him, once again. Are these the same ones who berated him for saying there were acts of violence happening on State House grounds, last Saturday?
On July 25, 2015 Curtis Loftis says on his face book. ” The house of rep has been a good partner to me and for that the people of this state should be thankful , Otherwise the debt would be even higher” What in the world is Loftis talking about.? He does not have a friend , not one in the Senate. .. He thinks he has one in the house. Lies, corruption, ethics violations, moral and intellectual turpitude do not make friend. Period.
The House of Representatives has kept check on the Investment Commission. The Senate has given the Investment Commission a green light to keep charging ahead, which means keep making pitiful returns and keep putting us further in debt.
I think the House and its leadership is correct and doing a great job on this issue. Now, on some others issues—wait, I better not get started on that!
CorruptioninColumbia …You need to learn, as soon as possible, about Loftis and his actions and the lost of million of dollars to the retirees trust fund before you post . You are making a stupid idiot out of you. Defending a jackass with mental , intellectual and physical abilities is not rewarding. Find someone with more than a High School degree to trust with your investments and your tax dollars. Loftis’s posts last week appear to make him a racist to the core. A state treasurer, not to be trusted ever. Must resign before the shit …
Obsessed crazy hatred for Loftis is sick. Get a life and you will find normalcy. Obsessing over someone is not healthy.
Think again, Loftis lost millions from the retiree funds. You are not a state retiree for you will know better. Loftis has lost millions from tax payers in SC. Millions. And Loftis is a racist to the core. The videos and comments are enough to prove that Loftis is a racist to the core…
This is the craziness that Loftis has had to put up with for the last 4 years.
Deceptive, dishonest, vulgar, obsessive…and all from the safety of an anonymous blog post.
These friends of the Investment Commission and of Converse Chellis are crazed cowards. Nothing more need be said. it is disgusting
This is the craziness that Loftis has had to put up with for the last 4 years.
Deceptive, dishonest, vulgar, obsessive…and all from the safety of an anonymous blog post.
These friends of the Investment Commission and of Converse Chellis are crazed cowards. Nothing more need be said.
Ha! What are you doing right now? Pot calling the kettle black.
South Carolina’ s ethic panel has decided to take a closer look that State Treasurer Curtis Loftis violated ethics law by hiring a long time friend to join a lawsuit against the Bank of NY.. Nothing crazy about this Deceptive, dishonest, vulgar, obsessive is what Loftis is and has been and will be for the tax payers and the state of SC. He must resign now. ` He has violated the tax payers for too long. Jail…and Montgomery go with him. millions lost , tax payers and retirees are well informed of Loftis violations .. Millions lost and wasted… May God spare you HELL. . Violating retirees and tax payers is a no no…Loftis, you are a no no..
You are just a crazy sick insider trying to stop Loftis from fighting the bad guys.
You are obsessed with Loftis. It is not healthy.
Please, look into Curtis bank accounts. Millions made from where? Tax payers.. FBI and Sled will investigate. Follow the money.. Custis Loftis is a crook. Did Loftis help himself to SC retiree funds? Shame on him ..
Karma,
What kind of person would post the names of normal average people on a website like this? You are a sicko and need professional help.
Leave these innocent people alone. Hating Loftis is abnormal enough, hating the world is a big job and I don’t think you are up to it.
That is just my 2 cents.
JJ
I hope Loftis has SLED protection. This whack job poster may be dangerous.
This is the craziness that Loftis has had to put up with for the last 4 years. Non-stop, obsessive, godless rants from broken people
Deceptive, dishonest, vulgar, obsessive…and all from the safety of an anonymous blog post.
These friends of the Investment Commission and of Converse Chellis are crazed cowards. Nothing more need be said. it is disgusting
Curtis Loftis is a very sick man with mental and moral aberrations, The state and the tax payers will be well served if Loftis would resign now… Before the shit … The craziness is loftis,s… Yes Loftis is crazy.. crazy is as crazy does. Lofts does crazy and it is costing tax payers a lot. Loftis, you need to get lost..
This Loftis hating is an obsession by a handful of people that have financial ties to government. They want more money and Loftis keeps them from getting it.
They hate him for it. Keep up the good work, Loftis. Keep it up.
Curtis Loftis on his face book says, Friday 9:47 am July 24. ” The leadership of the retiree association will not let me in the room, much less speak. Thay are in lockstep with the investment commission” This is a LIE.. John Cattano, Swain Sheppard, Robert E Freer, Delinda Ridings, Earl Crapps need to verify this allegation so they do not make fools of themselves. The State Ethics Commission accuses Loftis of violating state law… Loftis and his friend are running scared and should be put in jail.
Crazy haters.
Loftis has pissed them off but good.
And to that I say, wonderful.
Clarissa Adams. Do look at Curtis Loftis and get sick and move away and never look back at him. He will never be governor. He is a a fraud , a mental case and a lethal man with a brain of a roach . FBI coming.. Loftis accused of violating state law.. more to come
Pathetic little haters going to hate. That is what they do!
No, THAT IS WHAT YOU DO LOFTIS! You are sick, you need medical and mental help.. AS SOON AS POSSIBLE..
I don’t like Curtis Loftis because he cut into my bottom line. I have a lot of non productive children to support.
Curtis Loftis keeps me and my pals from dipping into the retiree funds for our own benefit. I have grown kids who can’t work at a job that I have to support with what I can skim from the retirement funds and Curtis keeps watching me too closely for me to take much.
This is the astounding craziness that Loftis has had to put up with for the last 4 years.
Deceptive, dishonest, vulgar, obsessive…and all from the safety of an anonymous blog post.
These friends of the Investment Commission and of Converse Chellis are crazed cowards. Nothing more need be said.
When Hikki Haley took office, January 2011, South Carolina had the fifth smallest Work force Participation Rate. Now it is eighth (not sixth) smallest. This improvement has been in spite of the fact that we are one of the ten fastest growing states, but also much of our growth is from retirees, which hurts our WPR, but is not bad for our economy .
As for personal income, South Carolina is ninth (not seventh) worst in 2014 and had the sixth highest personal income growth rate in the 1st quarter of 2015 at 1.2%. I have linked sites recently that when combining cost of living and taxes, South Carolina is right in the middle of the rankings.
I think Thumper will is saying – Talk to the Hand.
This improvement has been in spite of Nikki.
There fixed it for you.
You can call it a gimmick all you want – but my advice, get to Target early because this stuff sells like hot cakes. And if you can, purchase extra school supplies and donate them to local organizations to help supply the less fortunate students.
How about a sales tax holiday from September 1 to December 31?
“..what we object to is the gimmicky nature of this temporary “cut,..”
If a married couple is outfitting three children with clothes and schools supplies, they would probably save enough money to treat themselves and the kids to a fast food meal and a movie with sodas and popcorn.
As you say, a “gimmick” at best for the parents and a bragging point for the politicians.
Yeah. Give ’em enough for one “free” meal.
Much better make all fed, state, local sales taxes totally deductible … That would give ’em two weeks worth of groceries. … Oh Bummer?
(This is what businesses and banks do, deduct it all.)
Retail sales taxes are the most “regressive ” of all and fall most heavily on the poor and the low income consumer.
Just to make it fair, the benefactors of such sales tax revenue should be made to pay the most. How about double sales taxes on government employees?