09 Nov, 2009
Taxed to Death in California, Good News, Bad News
Posted by: Beach Reporter In: california| events
Do you feel like you are being taxed to death in California as you ready yourself for another year of income tax preparation? There are only a few weeks remaining to employ certain tax strategies.
Some good news for inbound travelers to the U.S. - The Department of Agriculture agreed not to raise fees for inbound trips. United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) agreed to withdraw the plan for a 10 percent increase of fees paid by incoming travelers to the United States. Increasing its fees by 61% since Jan. 2005, the fee hike proposal would have amounted to an increase of 77% over five years.
Bad news for Californians — California sales tax increased in April 2009, and now is the highest in the United States, ranging from around 8.25% to 9.75%. Our gasoline prices are the second highest in the U.S., just below Alaska. Cities want to levy new taxes, the California State Parks want to add a car license tax and there will be more taxes to come. Currently , if you rent a car in California, you pay a fee for California tourism marketing. If you stay in a hotel in many cities, in addition to Transient Occupancy Tax, there are special fees that are earmarked for other city uses on top of TOT.
Some good news for those who feared they’d never dig out of the hole in fees –California Toll Road Refunds Excessive Penalties in Orange County, California in $42 million settlement. California motorists won a settlement last month from the Orange County Transportation Agency (OCTA) and Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA). The toll road operating entities agreed to pay $1.4 million in restitution and waive $41 million in unpaid toll penalties after a lawsuit alleged the fines were excessive and that the denial of due process to the accused was unconstitutional.
Stephanie and Brian Young’s toll road account credit card expired without their awareness, they said. But when $580 in unpaid tolls turned into a demand to pay $53,550 in fines, they sued. Maria and Pablo Gonzalez had a $60.14 fine in tolls that turned into $78,780.
The agencies have agreed to make a number of procedural changes designed to prevent future problems. E-mail will be used to notify toll road users of problems such as low account balances and a thirty-day notice will be given before an account suspension. The agencies promise to keep accurate records. Notice of an alleged toll violation must be mailed within ten days. Alleged toll road violations will be subject to hearings that will now be conducted in a fair manner.
Finally, if you feel you are being taxed to death, certain death taxes were rolled back several years ago so that heirs to an estate weren’t taxed as much. But the current administration wants to raise the death taxes to higher sums once again. The savings were short-lived.
