Excise Taxes On Nudie Bars

[Red Cedar PM]

From the Tax Foundation's Tax Policy Blog.

Stupid Tax Ideas from Busybody State Legislators

Posted on February 20, 2008 by Gerald Prante

George Washington University tax law professor David Brunori (also Tax Analysts columnist) has written a column this week in State Tax Notes that makes us at the Tax Foundation realize that somebody else out there is as fed up as we are at the "asinine" tax proposals that come from many state lawmakers (and members of Congress). Here's an excerpt of one of the best tax commentaries we've seen in quite some time:

Incredibly Ridiculous Idea of the Week

The proposals from lawmakers are getting so outrageous that they warrant creating of a category beyond ridiculous. Here's one: Florida Rep. Rick Kriseman (D) wants to impose an excise tax on strip club admissions and use the money for low-income nursing homes. I kid you not. As we have seen in Texas and Pennsylvania, strip club taxation is all the rage. The funny thing is that Kriseman originally wanted to extend the sales tax to strip clubs until he discovered that they were already subject to sales tax. He then opted for the excise tax. That's the kind of well-thought-out fiscal policy we've come to love.

Excise taxes are supposed to be used to compensate society for the external costs of using a particular product or service. I guess Kriseman is saying that one of the externalities of girlie bars (as the old-timers used to call them in Pennsylvania) is higher nursing home costs. That's an interesting conclusion. Maybe people who visit strip clubs live longer.

At least other strip club taxes were earmarked for something in the general subject matter (sex offenders). But here's my question for Kriseman and the next legislator who comes up with a knucklehead idea like that: Aren't nursing homes important enough that we don't have to come up with a ridiculous tax to fund them? Aren't they important enough to appropriate money for and, if necessary, to raise real taxes for? If not, I'm not sure they are important enough to pick on grownups who want to watch naked people dance.

[Quixote]

Let me see if I've got this straight. Kriseman's proposed tax doesn't fit Brunori's idea of what an excise should be. But instead of reaching the easy conclusion that Kriseman's tax is not an excise, he pretends that it is an excise and criticizes it for being a poorly designed one.