Everyone hates paying taxes, or should I say most people do. I don't think the dead have an opinion one way or the other. But, it seems, the most infuriating taxes are state taxes along with all those local taxes. Take a state like New York where you pay tax on almost everything and if they could, they would tax the air we breathe. Its like a pyramid scheme of taxes when you figure there are state, city, county, school, property, income and a myriad of other taxes. But don't forget the tolls because they are really taxes too. Now I haven't even mentioned fees, the hundreds of fees. In New York you have to work 46 days to pay the average New York tax bill.

But our system of taxes doesn't seem to be hurting corporations. From 1996 to 2000, the GAO reported that most corporations owed no money for taxes. We're talking about earnings of 3.5 trillion dollars here folks. Lets get back to state taxes. As I said they are always trying to find ways of inventing new taxes. An example of this is how some states treat professional athletes. There is something called the commuter tax. It is meant to sock it to people working in states, other than the ones they live in. Alex Rodriguez received a contract for 252 million dollars. He lived in Texas which had no state income tax. When he went to Wisconsin to play a game they hit him with a $9,000 tax. I know he has a lot of money but this just doesn't seem right. It turns out that everyone traveling with the team is subject to this in every state that they travel to that has this tax. What does this mean? If you travel with a team to ten states that have this tax then you will have to file ten more tax returns. Wouldn't that be fun.

Some states have decided to tax illegal activities. Some of them actually tax drug dealers. Before you jump down my throat and say this is ridiculous, let me tell you how they do it. They tax the dealers that are arrested. It doesn't end there however. In North Caroline you can go to the Department of Revenue and pay taxes on your illegal drugs and they will give you tax stamps. You put the stamps on your drugs to show you paid the tax. Convenient when you are arrested isn't it? Here is the best part, you do this without providing any id and it is illegal for Revenue employees to turn you in. Other states have decided to tax unusual items, for example a tax levied against those who patronize establishments with naked people. In Utah there is a 10% tax on this sort of thing. This includes purchases, admission and services. Maine has a special tax on blueberries that includes everyone who is involved with them from their growing to selling. Some states tax you on gambling and not just on your winnings. In Chicago you will pay a special tax for a soda fountain drink and it is a hefty 9%. Some places have a state and city tax called the amusement tax which is placed on ticket sales. It a double shot gun blast of taxes.

None of us are safe even after we are dead. Want to leave a little something to your kids? If you are not careful, you will be leaving a big chunk of it, in the form of taxes, to your uncle, Uncle Sam that is. Estate and inheritance tax is aimed at dead people and their assets. Many states think this is a good idea and either have a death tax of their own or are proposing one.

There are some strange things going on with corporations. The Marriott International Inc. is the owner of the Marriott Hotel Chain. Those lovely hotels that one finds in the most glamorous cities around the world. But it is said that Marriott International Inc. owns coal scrubbing machines, why? There is a very simple answer for this. They were able to write off $74 million in taxes in 2002 and will continue to write off taxes due to the incentive by the government to own these machines. This incentive was meant to encourage certain types of fuel production but due to a loop hole Marriott International Inc would have been able to take advantage of the tax savings. I am not picking on Marriott International Inc., any corporation worth their salt is taking advantage of these tax loop holes and that is one of the reasons why it is so hard to balance the federal budget.

The lottery is a form of taxation, whether we like to think of it that way or not. On the local and state level it really hasn't helped in some areas. I say this because in some places it was supposed to be used to help fund education and it was promised that all the money it made would go into education. What we weren't told is that in some places they deduct the amount that is collected from the education budget before depositing the amount from the lottery, therefore not helping the education fund one penny.

They say that taxes and death are the only sure things in our lives, I guess this is true, but please spare me from all these weird taxes, things are bad enough now.