Sin Tax

There are taxes and then there are taxes.

Then there are sin taxes. Alcohol, tobacco and the such.

Pittsburgh is contemplating a new sin tax…College!

In a sudden change of course, Pittsburgh’s mayor asked the City Council Wednesday to postpone a vote on the nation’s first tuition tax on college students, holding out hope that the city’s 10 colleges and universities will agree to provide economic help voluntarily.

If approved, the tax would affect students attending college in Pittsburgh and would raise more than $15 million in annual revenue that is needed to pay pensions for retired city employees. Mr. Ravenstahl said he still hoped to get an agreement with the universities or seek a final vote before Dec. 29.

The proposal was being watched closely by other cities struggling with similar budget gaps. Students and college officials in Pittsburgh have argued that the tax would set a bad precedent in altering the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations and pose an unfair burden on institutions that already contribute substantially to the city.

In Harrisburg, the state capital, lawmakers sought to get in front of the mayor’s plan. Representative Paul Costa, Democrat of Turtle Creek, has drafted a bill that would explicitly prevent municipalities from taxing tuition.

This thing is on hold right now, but watch out. Even if Pennsylvania does pass a bill which prevents this tax, the genie is out of the bottle. You know there are other Mayors out there saying “Why didn’t I think of that?”

College. The next sin.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 18th, 2009 at 4:16 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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