Something Extra: Death And Very Weird Taxes
MIAMI (CBS4) - Ben Franklin told us nothing is certain but death and taxes. Never is that more true than on tax day.
And if taxes are certain, it's also certain that politicians will come up with some crazy ones, never learning the lesson that when you tax something, people will change their behavior to avoid the tax.
Hundreds of years ago, England and Russia tried to tax beards. Guess what? People shaved.
About two hundred years ago, England taxed powdered wigs and windows. What happened? People stopped wearing wigs and bricked up windows.
But weird tax laws aren't a thing of the past.
Illinois has a nonsensical tax on candy. If a sweet includes flour, it's considered food, so a Milky Way is candy but a Twix bar is food... huh?
Canada exempts boxes of children's cereal from taxes if they include free toys, as long as they are not beer, liquor or wine. Huh? In children's cereal?
And then, my favorite: New Zealand's flatulence tax, which, of course, usually goes by a less polite name.
But don't worry, you don't have to stop eating beans if you go to New Zealand. The flatulence tax is aimed at reducing the emission of greenhouse gases by farm animals.
