BOBBY HARRISON: Taxes make possible the best of government work
A reader emailed to point out that while reporting that the 3 percent tax on insurance premiums was a growing source of revenue for a beleaguered state budget, I did not explain that the levy most likely was resulting in people having to pay more for insurance.
Granted, taxes do not occur in a vacuum. They cost somebody extra money – whether it’s the shopper paying the sales tax in the mall, grocery store or restaurant; the worker paying the personal income tax; the business (large or small) paying the corporate income tax and a few other levies, or the motorist buying gasoline.
The cold, hard fact is that government cannot run without tax revenue. Try having schools, law enforcement or highways without taxes….
…But with all due respect to the previously mentioned reader who was kind enough to write, it seems that the insurance premium tax is an example of the kind of tax we all want. It is growing, not because its rate has been raised, but because more people have insurance, meaning insurance companies have more profits to tax.
Daily Journal
7/13/16
Magnolia Tribune
