Hunting Excise Taxes: Tea Anyone?
There were tea parties staged around the country yesterday, not the kind hosted by the Mad Hatter or the Queen, but groups of people fed up paying taxes that go to bail outs. It, too, rubs my fur the wrong way that we, the tax payers, are bailing the poor management practices of banks and manufacturers. Why should we pay for other’s mistakes or greed? But I digress. The tax you pay when you buy a box shotshells for skeet or new shotgun for pheasant hunting or a lever-action deer rifle goes to the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act, which was passed in 1937. The funds you pay in the form of excise tax go to states based on land area and paid hunting license holders, among other criteria. Safeguards written into the act prevent the government from redirecting these funds away from state wildlife agencies. Last year some $336 million was collected. That’s a lot green backs to fix the woes of some states. Be vigilant that your state does not try to divert funds or cut programs that are funds by the excise tax. Maybe some legilslators should be thrown in Boston harbor along with the tea.
