Maryland lawmakers plan to weigh new taxes on snack foods,medicine and online sales, as well as an increase in the statesgasoline tax, as they prepare for a special General Assembly sessionin the face of a
$1.1 billion structural deficit.
The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee will consider variousrevenue-generating proposals at its next meeting later this month,committee members told The Washington Examiner.
In preparation for the meeting, the committee has asked theDepartment of Legislative Services to draft a list of items that areexempt from the states sales tax. The main items on the list includeconsumer services, such as accounting and landscaping, andnecessities such as food and medicine, including prescription andnonprescription said legislative services director WarrenDeschenaux.
They want to know: What could we tax that we dont tax now?Deschenaux said.
Bills that would expand the states sales tax have failed inprevious legislative sessions, including a tax on snack food thatfailed in the most recent session.
Sen. David R. Brinkley, R-Carroll and Frederick counties, saidDemocratic lawmakers are floating tax inquiries to gauge how muchsupport they would have during the upcoming special legislativesession in October, which is devoted to redistricting.
Sen. Rob Garagiola, D-Germantown, says he has no appetite for newtaxes, unless the revenues are funneled into the states depletedfund for transportation projects.
I would challenge anyone Democrat or Republican to not see theneed to find new transportation revenue one way or the other, hesaid, adding, the sooner we get it done the better.
Garagiola supports increasing the states 27.5-cent-per-gallongasoline tax.
Another tax the committee is examining this month would apply tolarge-scale Internet vendors, such as Amazon.com, that do businesswith Maryland companies.
At the request of Gov. Martin OMalley, the state comptrollersoffice is investigating how much revenue the state loses by notcollecting taxes on Internet sales.
Officials from the comptrollers office will brief the committeeon some of its findings at the July 26 meeting, but the study willnot be completed until mid-August, said David Roose, director of thestates Board of Revenue Estimates.
Roose said he plans to discuss other tax issues, such as targetedtax rates, with the committee.
Were taking the opportunity [at the July meeting] to raise someissues of our own, Roose said. He said targeted tax rates or ratesthat are specific to a certain product, such as the new
alcohol sales tax in Maryland are much more difficult for us andfor retailers to deal with.
Roose said he has seen an increase in lawmakers attempts toimplement targeted taxes, and with the effects of the recessionstill lingering, hes concerned that more will crop up in the comingmonths.
hpeterson@washingtonexaminer.com
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