Now Pennsylvania Legislators Want to Tax Food and Clothing?!

In recent attempts to solve Pennsylvania’s budget woes, a few legislators, known as the “Commonwealth Caucus” have introduced a plan to slightly decrease the state’s sales tax rate while broadening its span over basic goods and services that are currently exempt. The plan wants to lower the sales tax from 6% to 4% but at the same time impose the tax on food, clothing and professional services.

While we like the lower rates, expanding taxation to basic necessities such as food and clothing is wrong. It punishes the taxpayers for purchasing items absolutely vital to their existence. It has been estimated that this plan will generate $15 billion in revenues a year! That is $15 billion coming out of the taxpayer’s wallets for feeding and clothing themselves. It’s absurd!

This tax hike scheme imposes a tremendous burden on its Pennsylvanians in the most regressive way possible. And who will claim most of this burden? The people who spend a larger amount of their income on food and clothing will be hit the hardest by this proposal. The poor of Pennsylvania will become even poorer.

This tax plan is outrageous and completely unfair to the people that are trying to live in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania lawmakers are attempting to punish its citizens for their inability to manage the state budget sensibly. The time for Pennsylvanians to act is NOW before preposterous proposals like this one gain any more momentum in the legislature.

It is important that the taxpayers of Pennsylvania contact their local legislators as well as Gov. Rendell to voice your opposition to such a horrible and regressive tax plan. Get involved by calling CSE’s Member Hotline at 1-888-564-6273 to be directly connected to your legislators and to the governor’s office and also send them a letter by clicking on the link below: