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Tax on Mowing. Unbelievable...

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7K views 21 replies 17 participants last post by  AI Inc 
#1 ·
#2 ·
This one is going to go political. For the record, Maryland tried it a coupla years ago, failed miserably, as I recall, but these are different times, and Michigan is a different, and broker state. Maryland's motto is if you can dream it, we can tax it! Michigan's is, it seems, we tax dreams, too!:laugh::laugh::waving:
 
#3 ·
Wi has been taxing us for as long as i can remember on the lawn/landscape side, still no tax on plowing, we cant charge sales tax for salt, yet we incure the tax when we buy it.
 
#4 ·
Ohio has sales tax on mowing service, and I like it. Because anyone who is going to deduct the expense of mowing has to have a service provider that collects and pays in sales tax. Otherwise they'll be flagged for an audit.
It's better than a license to keep out the fly-by-night operators.

It ain't like it's a tax on ME. I just collect it and pay it in to the state.

Sure it's a big PITA to operate a business. (OK, pain for my wife) With all the taxes, insurances, license etc.

More and more, the computer bases are linked. Workers Comp, IRS, Pesticide license, and insurance. And those figures had better match.
Without taxes it's all kind of toothless, and lets a lot of guys fly under the radar. Not so when you involve the IRS. "They don't mess with the IRS".

So if you're having problems with illegal labor, unlicensed competition and the like you can learn to appreciate a sales tax.
 
#5 ·
Wi has been taxing us for as long as i can remember on the lawn/landscape side, still no tax on plowing, we cant charge sales tax for salt, yet we incure the tax when we buy it.
On the landscape side WI doesn't tax Decks, patios, Retaining/decortive walls, or fencing. So those are safe to. See Pub 210 http://www.revenue.wi.gov/pubs/pb210.pdf
 
#6 ·
Michigans Government is mentally ********. This is the third year in a row they have tried to tax lawn/landscaping but NOT golf...wtf?! BS is what I say, getting your lawn mowed and buying a gumball(yes gumball machines will be taxed) is a luxury but golfing is not.

They want to lower the sales tax to 5.5% and inact this stupid luxury service tax. I would not mind the sales tax being increased which will effect everyone across the board and buying new TV's and cell phones is a luxury it should be taxed...ALOT.
 
#7 ·
Here in PA some landscaping is taxed, some is not. Makes things confusing sometimes. Mostly if it is a service, like mowing, then its taxable. New installs that improve the property are not taxable. On the service end, mowing is taxable, but trimming of shrubs isn't. Both seem to be services to me! Like most states snow plowing isn't taxable. Our Governor wants to reduce the state tax from 6% to 4% and add 74 new items to the tax list, don't know if any of the 74 are related to our business. IMO, lower the rate to 3% or 2% and make everything taxable. Would make things easier for everybody. I have had customers complain when I charge tax because their previous LCO didn't. I tell them I can't explain why their previous LCO didn't charge, but it is a taxable service. I carry a copy of the state code with me just in case!
 
#9 ·
This came up in NC. Alot of talk about it from the political movers and shakers.
It died a few months back. RIP!!
 
#13 ·
#15 ·
I can't even believe this is being revisited. You guys are exactly on to something that had been discussed HEAVILY with our state reps. The people that will REALLY benefit off this is the guys that are doing this illegitimately - the ones operating "under the radar". Many clients will go for the cheaper price - MUCH cheaper price - leaving all us taxpaying businesses holding an empty bag. Well,...guess what...with a decline in business, so will there be a decline in the amount of state income tax we will be paying. THEN let's see how much overall tax revenue will be going to the state. We marched on our state capitol in 2008, and we were effective....they saw the light. we divided into groups and went into the offices of our state reps and they listened with open ears. the idea behind this rally was to put faces behind the term "landscape industry".
She should have gotten the message then....but now, as she's on her way out,...perhaps it's just that she does not care. Tell a person once, and shed some light on that which they do not know or realize, - we can call that innocent ignorance. But to have to tell someone twice - after they KNOW the facts and the results it could have? that is shear stupidity.
 
#17 ·
5.5%, must be nice. Ontario sales tax is 8%, and depending on the product/supplier it can be as high as 13%. I'd LOVE to pay only 5.5%! Damn.

Mind you, the same thing goes for fuel, you guys are paying $2.75/gal, but the Canadian equivalent is close to $4.00 for a US gallon. All lawn services in Canada are charged GST, the federal sales tax (5% at the moment), but provincial sales tax is only added for some services (8%) and isn't used often. This July, everything will be 13%. Lucky us.
 
#18 ·
Ohio has sales tax on mowing service, and I like it. Because anyone who is going to deduct the expense of mowing has to have a service provider that collects and pays in sales tax. Otherwise they'll be flagged for an audit.
It's better than a license to keep out the fly-by-night operators.

It ain't like it's a tax on ME. I just collect it and pay it in to the state.

Sure it's a big PITA to operate a business. (OK, pain for my wife) With all the taxes, insurances, license etc.

More and more, the computer bases are linked. Workers Comp, IRS, Pesticide license, and insurance. And those figures had better match.
Without taxes it's all kind of toothless, and lets a lot of guys fly under the radar. Not so when you involve the IRS. "They don't mess with the IRS".

So if you're having problems with illegal labor, unlicensed competition and the like you can learn to appreciate a sales tax.
I guess if the fly by nighter has commercial properties. I don't see home owners deducting. JMO
 
#19 ·
I guess if the fly by nighter has commercial properties. I don't see home owners deducting. JMO
True...Homeowners can't deduct unless they're medically unable to mow their own lawn. Then they have to itemize and most don't.

But homeowners are still obligated to pay sales tax. (there's an exemption in Ohio if your neighbor mows your lawn) So if they write the LCO a check, there's a record. And it better have sales tax.
If someone collects sales tax and don't pay it to the state, It's a crime.

I make it part of my sales pitch, "I'm licensed, insured and collect and pay in sales tax."
Then I watch their faces when they get an expression kind of like this;:confused:
 
#20 ·
We have sales tax on mowing and alot of Service's. Most landscaping is not taxed. Our problem is We live and work on a county line. One county has a higher sales tax because of a stadium funding deal and the other does not. So the trick is finding out what tax to charge. It states charge based on your business location. Well our office address is in the higher of the 2 so when we charge to the lower county people get upset they are being charged. Its a mess
 
#21 ·
We have sales tax on mowing and alot of Service's. Most landscaping is not taxed. Our problem is We live and work on a county line. One county has a higher sales tax because of a stadium funding deal and the other does not. So the trick is finding out what tax to charge. It states charge based on your business location. Well our office address is in the higher of the 2 so when we charge to the lower county people get upset they are being charged. Its a mess
Nooo..You charge sales tax according to where the lawn is. It isn't like a barber where they bring something in to have cut. It doesn't matter where your office, mailing address, or the-place-you-park-your-mower is. You're doing business where the lawn is.

My wife files taxes for 3 counties, plus municipalities.
 
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