This arbitrariness is more than just blog fodder. Sales taxes exist to raise money, but how much revenue could each of the above taxes possibly generate? Then again, when a country and its states are trillions of dollars in debt, every little bit helps, right?
And that’s the real problem. The reason why politicians and bureaucrats resort to making these ever finer distinctions, the reason why they persist in looking for revenue in the unlikeliest of places, is simple—so that they can keep on spending.
Cutting spending and adopting a simpler, less burdensome tax system is crucial to getting our fiscal house in order and getting our country growing again.