Businesses and Hidden Taxes: Suggesting a Way for Business to Reveal Their Hidden Taxes

There is a way that businesses could use to start making their customers more aware of the effect of hidden taxes.  What I’m thinking of here, is that business could look over their total sales for the most recent full year, and see how much they paid total in various hidden taxes.


Then simply divide the total amount paid in hidden taxes by the total sales of the business.  This will give each business a number that is a percentage.  Then make up and post a sign that lets your customers know what percent of your prices go toward paying hidden taxes.

You also have the option of including the cost of items such as licenses and fees that are required by and paid to government.  Even though these are not called a tax, they are paid to government like a tax, they are a source of revenue to government, like a tax, and the cost is hidden from consumers, just like other hidden taxes.

From there, you could also include the web address where this 8 part series can be found and read them also.

You could word the sign after the following manner shown at the top of the next page:

HIDDEN TAX DISCLOSURE: The amount of taxes this business has paid to all levels of government, as required by law, that are included in our prices has been: For the year         2013          13.40 %                             2012          12.95 %                             2011          12.49% Examples of the taxes that make up our Hidden Tax Rate are: Payroll Taxes on Employee Wages, Taxes on our income and profits, Property Taxes, Business Licenses and Fees.

It is up to you as to how many years you show your combined hidden tax rate or percentage.

Your hidden tax rate should not include any transparent taxes you add onto the purchase total at the time of sale, such as the sales tax that is added in Washington State.

You should also be prepared to offer a brief explanation as to what types of taxes go into your combined hidden tax rate.  These hidden taxes would include employee payroll taxes, the matching payroll taxes you don’t deduct from paychecks, the taxes on the profits of your business, and so forth.  It shouldn’t be needed for you to break these down into individual percentages for the purposes of this sign.

Letting your customers know how much of the prices you charge go toward the hidden taxes they don’t see could potentially influence how they vote and what political candidates they choose to support.  Remember, the goal of what I’m promoting here is to end hidden taxes in favor of transparent taxes.  Making this kind of change does not have to reduce the actual amount of tax dollars being paid into government.

Thank you for taking time to read and ponder my opinion on this topic.
An Opinion Article by Dave Kemper
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It has been said that: "One definition of insanity is to do the same thing, the same way, over and over and over again, each time expecting to achieve a different result."
Therefore, we must either CHANGE the way we live, or we bind our future to our past as if with CHAINS.
"I do not consider myself to be better than anyone else.  But I do believe in exercising my right to not stay stupid."

David W. Kemper, Author
© Copyright 2014 by David William Kemper.  All right reserved
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