Jun 16 2009
For the love of Money: District 5 cent tax on shopping bags!
Today I was watching the local news and I saw something that made me cry, or at least made my pockets feel like crying a river, Washington D.C is officially passing the tax on shopping bags! Bummer! I am already a broke college student. Now, I will be a dead broke college student!
Don’t get me wrong, maybe this will be a good thing for the environment, it’s forcing me to use reusuable bags. I mean, I use a few already but I doubt they will hold all the things I get from the store. I am not a fan of shopping. I like to be in and out of stores quick. I enjoy getting all I need at once so I won’t have to come back for awhile. Also, I use my plastic bags as trash bags in my restroom and to store things around my apartment. How is this not helping out the environment?
To be honest, I think it’s just about money. The people passing the bill today says it’s for the best interest of the environment but math never lies! Five cents per bag can go along way in taxes for the government! For example, if you buy a couple of things from the store and the items in total end up in 10 bags that’s 50 cents additional to whatever the total cost of spending, plus the taxes on each item in the bag. Can you say rip off? I can!
Living in the district for a little over a year now, I have seen how the government can rip me off from Traffic court to my federal taxes! I just can’t win! I have even invested in a grocery cart just to help me be as economically sound as possible this fiscal year! The bill comes into effect January 2010! Don’t forget to get your reusuable bags or be really cheap and harvest plastic bags you already have gotten from shopping. There is a good chance you’ll have enough bags by January if you start now! The trend will spread after the district gets a hold of it. I hear rumors the state of Maryland is also aiming to pass a bill for itself.
Until then, try to remain happy shoppers! It appears this country is about to do many reforms in the next couple of months. Yes, it will hit your pockets. Maybe it will be good for the future! Hopefully,the best is yet to come!
-BB
