Thursday, June 21, 2012

Wise-Up, Richmond. Stop Taxing Tickets


What is your city council representative’s position on the seven percent admissions tax Richmond takes from (almost) every ticket sold in the city? No offense meant, but I doubt you know the answer to that question.

Do you understand why some savvy Richmonders have been calling for the abolition of that particular tax? By the way, these savvy Richmonders are not anti-tax zealots who want to starve the government. This isn't split along partisan lines; it's not a Republican Party or a Democratic Party issue. It's a common sense issue that show business folks who have dealt with it understand all too well.

Click here to read some background. Click here for more background, if you like. Click here to visit the Facebook page for the group Stop Taxing Tickets.

With regard to the admissions tax, there are five options listed below. Which of them would you like to see your next city council representative adopt as their position on this matter?

  • Prompt abolition: The seven percent admission tax is totally wrongheaded and is stifling the growth of show business. It should be abolished immediately. 
  • Experiment No. 1: As an experiment to see how it would go, the seven percent admissions tax should not apply to tickets sold by nonprofits.
  • Experiment No. 2: As an experiment to see how it would go, the seven percent admissions tax should not apply to tickets sold to exhibitions to be presented within the Arts District.
  • Mock concern and delay: Perhaps the seven percent admissions tax should eventually be phased out, but in these tough times no changes should be made. It needs more study, blah, blah...
  • Shrug it off: Voters don’t care about this issue; the seven percent admissions tax is not a problem and no changes are necessary.
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Bonus for reading this far: Here's the link to a short video on an aspect of this topic.

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