By Tony Huppert, , CEO, Team Oil Inc.
Every few years a presidential candidate, governor or other tax engineer has the vision that by increasing sales tax the government’s tax needs will be met.
They call it a fair tax or some other name for the replacement for income tax or property tax.
The issue is, according to the Bill of Rights, amendment 5, the last sentence states, ‘No private property can be taken for public use with out proper compensation.’
Retailers use their private property, money, labor, and equipment, to collect, process, calculate, and pay the sales tax to public government departments, for public use, with NO compensation. Plus with over 50% of the customers using credit cards, the retailers, are paying credit card fees to collect sales tax for public use with NO compensation.
It seems to me the collection of sales tax, for public use, with NO compensation for the retailers, creates an undo hardship on the retailers and is in violation of Amendment 5.
Increasing that hardship, with no compensation, seems unlawful, unfair and unjust. Either the compensation for collecting the sales tax should be increased to off set the cost of collection, or the hardship should be eliminated.
Tony Huppert is a Wisconsin businessman of 40 years and CEO of Team Oil Inc., the family-owned and operated Team Oil Travel Center, and Subway in Spring Valley, Wis.
