What the heck is with this love affair Republicans in the Legislature have with raising taxes this session?
Assembly Bill 471 passed the Nevada Assembly last night. And get this – only 2 out of 15 Republicans had the backbone to vote against it.
That’s a real slap in the face when you think about how the 13 tax hikers campaigned on keeping taxes low in order to get elected.
The two taxpayer champions were Assemblywoman Jill Dickman and Assemblyman Ken Gray – both of whom are signers of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge.
Two other Pledge signers – Assemblyman Rich DeLong and Assemblywoman Heidi Kasama – broke their written promise.
So what’s this bill all about?
Let’s say you live in Las Vegas and want to order some cigars from a shop in Florida. Maybe your local store doesn’t have what you want, or maybe you found a better deal online.
Under this new law, that Florida shop now has to jump through all kinds of hoops just to sell to you.
They have to:
- Get a special Nevada license that costs $650 every year
- File paperwork with Nevada every month
- Keep detailed records for 5 years
- Pay Nevada a 30% tax on what they paid for the cigars
Here’s the kicker: that Florida shop doesn’t use Nevada’s roads, fire departments, or any other government services. They’re not in Nevada at all.
But now they have to pay Nevada taxes anyway.
Who Really Pays This Tax?
The tax hikers say this tax is on the business, not on you. But come on – we all know how this works.
When a business has to pay more in taxes and fees, they pass those costs on to their customers. It’s like when your favorite restaurant raises prices because their rent went up.
So even though politicians call this a “business tax,” YOU’RE the one who’s going to pay more for your cigars.
Plus, some smaller online shops might just stop selling to Nevada customers because all these new rules are too much hassle.
The “Fairness” Excuse
Supporters of this bill say it makes things “fair” between local cigar shops and online stores.
But think about it this way: your local shop already has big advantages. You can walk in, see what they have, talk to the owner, and take your cigars home right away. No waiting for shipping.
That’s worth something to a lot of people.
But instead of letting customers decide what they value most, the government is just making online shopping more expensive and complicated.
It’s like if your neighbor complained that Amazon was hurting his garage sale, so the city decided to charge Amazon extra fees.
That’s not really making things fair – that’s just picking winners and losers.
Why This Doesn’t Make Sense
Here’s what bothers me most about this whole thing: we’re taxing businesses that don’t even benefit from Nevada’s government services.
When you buy cigars from a local Nevada shop, that business uses Nevada’s roads to get deliveries, might call Nevada’s fire department if there’s an emergency, and benefits from Nevada’s court system if they have legal problems.
It makes sense that they’d pay Nevada taxes.
But a cigar shop in Florida?
They use Florida’s roads, Florida’s emergency services, and Florida’s courts. Why should they pay Nevada taxes just because someone in Reno ordered something from their website?
The Tax Foundation, which studies tax policy, has pointed out that these kinds of laws often hurt small businesses the most.
Big companies like Amazon can afford to hire people just to deal with tax rules from 50 different states. But a small family-owned cigar shop? Not so much.
Supporters of this tax hike say it will make sure everyone pays their fair share of taxes.
But it’s hard to see how it’s fair to tax someone who doesn’t use your government services.
This bill isn’t about creating fairness. It’s about the government wanting more money, plain and simple.
And what’s really disappointing is seeing Republicans go along with it.
These are the same people who probably gave speeches about cutting taxes and supporting small businesses during their campaigns.
But when it came time to vote, 13 out of 15 Nevada Assembly Republicans decided that expanding government power and raising taxes was just fine – as long as the taxes hit businesses in other states.
The bill still needs to pass the Nevada Senate before it becomes law. So if you think this kind of tax expansion is wrong – whether you smoke cigars or not – now’s the time to call your state senator.
Because if Nevada can tax a Florida cigar shop for selling to Nevada customers, what’s next?
Maybe they’ll tax that online bookstore in Oregon, or the specialty food company in Vermont that ships cheese to your door.
Once government starts reaching across state lines to grab tax money from businesses that don’t use their services, where does it end?
The bottom line is simple: Nevada consumers will pay more, small businesses will suffer, and government will get bigger.
And apparently, most of our Republicans are just fine with that.
