If O'Malley doesn't do it...

O’Malley is really going bonkers with tax increases. While I think most tax increases are bad news, the one that really gets me is the proposed sales tax increase, from 5% to 6%. I would think that most voters feel they pay enough taxes, but obviously that is not the case. I don’t think this tax increase is much of a surprise to anyone.

What most people don’t realize, is that the Sales Tax is actually a Sales and Use Tax. In other words, if you buy something out of state (like online, for example), you are supposed to pay use tax (same rate as Sales Tax) to Maryland if you use the good in Maryland. Keep that in mind after your next Amazon.com purchase. You get a credit for taxes paid to another state, not that it matters since no one is stupid enough to pay Use Tax in the first place. Of course, I would expect that people in high powered political positions do actually remit Use Tax. I’d like to see how much O’Malley paid last month.