Proposal by Gov. Wolf
would hurt small businesses
Governor Tom Wolf has
proposed expanding the sales tax to many services and goods that were
previously exempt. NFIB members who
would be affected if that proposal passes, talk about how it would hurt their
business or their customers.
Dale Kaplan, Kaplan’s
Careful Cleaners, Camp Hill
My gut feeling is this will have a very negative affect on
my business and the entire dry cleaning industry in Pennsylvania. Let’s say I charge $6 for cleaning a pair of pants
that would add about 40 cents onto the price.
Right now I have people at my counter who ask the price of
cleaning for various items and then they chose not to get some items
cleaned. They think it’s just too much
money. I really think putting a sales
tax on cleaning will set my business back 5 to 10-percent.
I already face the challenge of large retailers making
no-iron shirts. The times have changed
and the world is more casual where a crisp pressed cotton shirt is not in
demand as it used to be.
The worst part is I file my taxes as an S-Corp, so if the
governor also wants to hike the Personal Income Tax by 21% I will get a big hit
there too!
Frank Perman, Perman
Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Pittsburgh
Oh my gosh you’ve got
to be kidding me…a sales taxes on funeral services, caskets, cremations,
graves and urns? The families of the deceased are taxed on the estate already,
unlike many other states. So how can it be right to double tax families in their
time of grief? It is hard to say what the effects on my business will be,
however compliance to any government fiat costs time and money. When is
enough enough for Government?
David DeFazio, L and D Candies, Johnstown
We have been in this business since 1963, making candy from
scratch. There are already so many
obstacles for small mom-and-pop companies, starting to tax candy sales is just
another reason it’s hard to continue in business. Our
state has so many large and small candy companies and this will not be good for
the Pennsylvania economy.
The biggest problem is candy is a luxury item. You don’t have to have it and it’s the first
thing you won’t buy when it costs more. The recession really hurt us and we haven’t recovered. How am I going to explain to all the children
who come into our retail shop they need 6.6 extra cents on that dollar worth of
candy?
Not only that, it will add so much paperwork to comply.
