September 4, 2009
Times-Picayune Highlights Tax Foundation Paper on Sales Tax Holidays
"Sales tax holiday for guns, ammunition starts today"
By Jen DeGregorio
On the eve of Louisiana's inaugural sales-tax holiday for guns and ammunition, which starts today and runs through Sunday, some unlikely critics emerged to assail the program.
During a phone conference on Thursday, officials with the Tax Foundation, a Washington group that advocates lower taxes, called the holiday a "political gimmick" meant to promote gun ownership.
"This is an inappropriate use of the tax code," said Joseph Henchman, the foundation's director of state projects. "The tax code should be used for raising revenue ..... not affecting behaviors." ...
Describing the holiday as "a subsidy for gun buyers paid for by nongun buyers," Tax Foundation economist Mark Robyn criticized the state for providing preferential treatment to a single industry.
"The government should be acting in a neutral way toward all purchases," Robyn said.
