W P Dixon wrote:

I believe what George is speaking of is the luxury tax on an item
like an airplane, which is at a higher rate than buying your car or
food.

Actually, I was using the Federal luxury tax as an example of what is going on
here on the State level. As far as luxury taxes go, it really doesn't matter
what the rate is. Any tax at all will decrease the amount of product purchased
because people don't *have* to buy it. You will find X number of people who will
buy a mink coat at Y amount. Increase the price by 5%, and X goes down; usually
by a lot more than 5%. In any situation in which much of your revenue comes from
an income tax, you've just lost money because the sellers' income just went down
and they just laid off part of their work force.

If both a sales tax and an income tax are factors, you *have* to concentrate the
sales taxes on necessities like food to achieve a net increase in revenue.
People *have* to buy food.

In the Illinois situation, people who own aircraft can avoid the Illinois tax on
big-ticket maintenance items by taking the plane elsewhere. When you're talking
about someone with a few Citations (or larger aircraft), you're talking about a
big loss to business. The State is losing the income taxes from the mechanics
who used to work there, and is not gaining much from the new sales tax ('cause
people aren't paying it).

George Patterson
Drink is the curse of the land. It makes you quarrel with your neighbor.
It makes you shoot at your landlord. And it makes you miss him.