Gov. John Kasich is trying to change the tax structure, but the plan already is running into a giant political buzz saw.
“Wow” is the word realtor Sue Lusk-Gleich used to describe Kasich’s proposed budget.
She said that if the proposal is approved, it would increase consumer real estate fees on everything from the termite report to home inspections to contractors.
“I think the timing of it is critical, because we’re just coming out of this really down economic time in housing,” Lusk-Gleich said.
Kasich’s proposal cuts the state sales tax from 5.5 percent to 5 percent, but it also adds new taxes on a long list of services.
“When we created the state sales tax in the 1930s, all we really thought about were goods, but the bulk of the activity of the state now is services,” Kasich said this week.
Some of the additional taxes include haircuts, dog grooming; dating services; book, movie and music downloads; Buckeye, Browns and Bengals games; Cedar Point and King’s Island visits; bowling lanes; and magazine subscriptions.
Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern said that the proposal taxes gets taxpayers everywhere they go.
“He gets you coming, he gets you going. He gets you in your funeral casket, he gets you when you’re born,” Redfern said.
State Republican Party Chairman Bob Bennett says the party has not officially endorsed Kasich’s budget, but supports the various tax cuts contained in it.
“This gives an overall $1.4 billion dollar tax reduction to taxpayers,” Bennett said.
Lusk-Gleich said that if costs rise in the world of real estate because of a new sales tax, Ohio will lose.
“If this goes through, does that make real estate in the state of Ohio less attractive to potential investors and homeowners? Lusk-Gleich said.
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The following items and services could be taxed:
Horse boarding and training
Pet grooming
Intrastate courier service
Marine towing service
Packing and crating
Refuse collection
Insurance services
Investment counseling
Loan broker fees
Property sales agents
Real estate management fees
Real estate title abstract services
Service charges of banking institutions
Tickertape reporting
Accounting
Cutting, coloring, styling of hair
Dating services
Debt counseling
Fishing and hunting guide services
Funeral services
Laundry and dry cleaning services
Legal services
Mailbox rentals
Tax return preparation
Travel agent services
Accounting & Bookkeeping
Advertising agency fee
Architectural, engineering and related services
Bail bond fees
Call center
Check & debt collection
Commercial art and graphic design
Credit information, credit bureaus
Interior design and decorating
Legal services
Lobbying and consulting
Magazine subscriptions
Management consultant services
Marketing
Packing and crating
Process server fees
Sales of advertising time or space
Billboards
Magazines
Radio & television, local advertising
Public relations consulting
Secretarial and court reporting services
Telemarketing services on contract
Telephone answering service
Test Laboratories (excluding medical)
Travel agent services
Software – custom programs – programming
Software – modifications to pre-written program
Books – Downloaded
Movies/Digital Video – Downloaded
Music – Download
Other Electronic Goods – Downloaded
Parking lots & garages
Admission to cultural events
Admission to professional sports events
Admission to school and college sports events
Amusement park admission & rides
Billiard parlors
Bowling alleys
Cable TV services
Circuses and fairs – admission and games
Coin operated video games
Pari-mutuel racing events
Pinball and other mechanical amusements
Rental of films and tapes by theaters
Accounting and booking
Architects
Attorneys
Credit Rating service
Engineers
Land surveying
Public Relations
Sound recording
Stenographic services
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