Sales Tax

A comment was made by an anonymous Mail Caller recently concerning confusion about Maryland's sales tax as it applies to food purchases. “I recently went to a local eatery to get takeout,” the person said. “I noticed that I was charged 7 percent tax. I thought the sales tax in Maryland was 6 percent. I looked online and could not find anywhere that takeout would be charged a higher rate than everything else. Anybody have an explanation for me?” According to a spokeswoman at the state comptroller's office, Maryland sales and use tax applies to all retail sales within the state, as well as the use of “tangible personal property or a taxable service.” Spokeswoman Sarah C. Dufresne said in an email that the sales tax rate on food and drink is 6 percent in most cases, unless an exception applies.

When Mike Osborne heard about Maryland's decision to drop its sales tax for a week to coincide with back-to-school shopping, he knew he would be visiting some stores. “(It's) one of the few breaks I'll get on taxes in my lifetime, that's for sure,” Osborne said as he shopped for clothes for his 17-year-old son in the crowded Aeropostale store at Valley Mall Sunday afternoon. Shop Maryland, which began Sunday and continues through Saturday, allows shoppers to avoid the state's 6 percent sales tax on apparel and footwear priced at $100 and less.

The Washington County Commissioners decided Tuesday to stop pursuing a sales tax increase to pay off the water and sewer debt. Only Commissioner Paul L. Swartz voted to increase the sales tax in Washington County from 5 cents to 6 cents to pay off the $52.3 million Washington County water and sewer debt. cont. from front page "I am very, very disappointed," Swartz said after the meeting. "We let the citizens down. " Before the decision, Swartz said voting against the sales tax increase is showing "a lack of intestinal fortitude.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot was at Hagerstown Premium Outlets Monday to raise awareness of this year's Shop Maryland Tax-Free Week, during which there is no sales tax on footwear and apparel costing less than $100. This year's tax-free week runs from Aug. 12 to 18. “We believe this plays a big role in jump-starting fall shopping,” Franchot said. “It gets people out of summer vacation mode.” The footwear and apparel include any type of shoes and any articles of clothing that cost less than $100, according to Kim Frum, public information officer from the comptroller's office.

An area resident recently submitted a question regarding how local restaurants are permitted to apply sales tax to orders when a customer uses a coupon, specifically a “buy one, get one free” offer. In an email, the woman said she has used “buy one, get one” coupons at several area restaurants, but one in particular applies sales tax to the full amount of the bill prior to taking out the discount. “When questioned on this, they say their accountant says they are allowed to do this,” the woman said in her email.

The idea of temporarily raising the state sales tax to wipe out Washington County's water and sewer debt was shot down Thursday almost as quickly as it was proposed. But the Washington County Commissioners hinted that some type of tax increase could be needed to stop the $3-million-a-year bleeding. Commissioner Paul L. Swartz said an increase in the sales tax from 5 percent to 6 percent on purchases in Washington County would be a relatively painless way of raising $12 million a year.

tammyb@herald-mail.com ANNAPOLIS - Shopaholics, take note. Families preparing to send their children back to school next fall could get a break from the state if the General Assembly approves a bill to offer a tax holiday on clothing purchases in August. Sponsored by Del. Jean Cryor, R-Montgomery, the bill would allow shoppers to purchase items of clothing or footwear within state enterprise zones without paying the state's 5 percent sales tax from Aug. 24 through Aug. 28 - so long as the taxable price of the purchase is less than $100.

Washington County's economy is showing new strength, with household and business spending on the rise for nearly a year, according to a study byTheHerald-Mail. But whether the momentum will continue amid rising economic uncertainties across the globe is a big question, a regional economist said last week. “One might look at the (local spending) data and conclude we have turned the corner. That doesn't mean we might not do another U-turn” back into the recession, said Anirban Basu, chairman and chief executive officer of Sage Policy Group Inc., a Baltimore economic and policy consulting firm.

-- Legislative requests The Washington County Commissioners decided Tuesday to ask the Maryland General Assembly to raise the state sales tax in the county and delayed a decision on a fire tax until a consultant's report is finished. [cont. from front page ] Commissioner Paul L. Swartz said he would like to pursue hiking the state sales tax from 5 percent to 6 percent in Washington County to help pay off the water and sewer debt, even though state lawmakers have not been enthusiastic about the idea.

Martinsburg City Council, which met Monday as a committee of the whole, recommended that City Manager Mark Baldwin be authorized to begin the process to apply to become a “home rule” city in West Virginia. Mayor George Karos and city council members received an explanation from City Attorney Floyd M. “Kin” Sayre III about the State Legislature's recent expansion of the home rule pilot program, which now will allow 16 more cities to apply to join four others already participating in the initiative.

An area resident recently submitted a question regarding how local restaurants are permitted to apply sales tax to orders when a customer uses a coupon, specifically a “buy one, get one free” offer. In an email, the woman said she has used “buy one, get one” coupons at several area restaurants, but one in particular applies sales tax to the full amount of the bill prior to taking out the discount. “When questioned on this, they say their accountant says they are allowed to do this,” the woman said in her email.

With the state sales tax exemption for qualifying Energy Star products set to take effect this weekend, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot was at Spichers Appliances and Electronics on Pennsylvania Avenue in Hagerstown on Wednesday to promote the third annual Shop Maryland Energy weekend. “We find that Marylanders plan for months around this weekend,” Franchot said. “It's hugely popular and very successful.” Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and lasting through midnight Monday, shoppers in Maryland will not have to pay the state's 6 percent sales tax if they purchase certain products that meet the energy efficiency requirements to earn the Energy Star label.

A comment was made by an anonymous Mail Caller recently concerning confusion about Maryland's sales tax as it applies to food purchases. “I recently went to a local eatery to get takeout,” the person said. “I noticed that I was charged 7 percent tax. I thought the sales tax in Maryland was 6 percent. I looked online and could not find anywhere that takeout would be charged a higher rate than everything else. Anybody have an explanation for me?” According to a spokeswoman at the state comptroller's office, Maryland sales and use tax applies to all retail sales within the state, as well as the use of “tangible personal property or a taxable service.” Spokeswoman Sarah C. Dufresne said in an email that the sales tax rate on food and drink is 6 percent in most cases, unless an exception applies.

For several years, Gov. Martin O'Malley has been talking about raising transportation funds for Maryland with a possible sales tax increase on gasoline. Last year, he floated an idea of a 6 percent sales tax increase on gas, but did not find a lot of backers. In his State of the State address Wednesday, O'Malley made another reference to the state's transportation needs. “There is no reason why we should be content with having the worst traffic congestion in the country. Building a 21st-century transportation network won't happen by itself,” O'Malley said.

I was in Hagerstown last month meeting with Sens. Christopher Shank and David Brinkley, Dels. LeRoy Myers and Neil Parrott, and business leaders in Washington County. The general consensus is that we are all disgusted with the utter and complete disconnect between Annapolis and Washington, D.C., and the rest of Maryland. Let's start with Annapolis. According to recent press accounts, Senate President Mike Miller and others are gushing about narrowing the state's structural budget deficit as if it's some kind of miracle they accomplished.

As Marylanders join millions of others nationwide in the computer shopping blitz that's become known as Cyber Monday, they might want to think about this: If they paid the sales tax they owe to the state for such purchases, Maryland would be $200 million richer. But virtually no one pays, and the state's top tax enforcement officer doesn't believe they should. Online buyers are supposed to pay sales taxes for their purchases by Jan. 21, 2013, one of the four deadlines a year for Maryland residents to file their “use tax.” This use tax is imposed on any purchase that is not taxed by the seller, whether it be out of a catalog, from an Internet retailer or even from a store in Delaware, which does not impose sales taxes.

“To the caller who wanted to know why no one is giving President Obama credit. I give him credit. He's responsible for 9 million people unemployed, he's responsible for tripling the deficit, he's responsible for our ambassador getting killed in Libya and lying about it. He's responsible for Fast and Furious and covering it up. So there's not much more we can give him credit for, except destroying the U.S. economy.” - Hagerstown “I see...

In the midst of tax-free week and the flurry of back-to-school shopping, parents and students have hit area stores in search of clothes and supplies. “We came up here to shop for school supplies because of the tax-free week,” said Berkeley Springs, W.Va., resident Sandra Howard, 34, who was shopping Thursday for her three children who are going back to school. “Back-to-school shopping is always very stressful.” During tax-free week, there is no sales tax in the state of Maryland on clothing items and footwear that cost $100 or less.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot was at Hagerstown Premium Outlets Monday to raise awareness of this year's Shop Maryland Tax-Free Week, during which there is no sales tax on footwear and apparel costing less than $100. This year's tax-free week runs from Aug. 12 to 18. “We believe this plays a big role in jump-starting fall shopping,” Franchot said. “It gets people out of summer vacation mode.” The footwear and apparel include any type of shoes and any articles of clothing that cost less than $100, according to Kim Frum, public information officer from the comptroller's office.