Americans for Tax Reform Foundation and its Cost of Government Center have released their second edition of "Tax Bites," a project that unveils how much the price of goods and services is driven up by government. The goods and services highlighted are popular targets for revenue-hungry lawmakers who impose "sin" taxes and other punitive costs on products and industries. These discriminatory taxes, coupled with the costs companies shoulder under the current tax burden under federal, state and local governments, increase the costs of goods and services by an average of 41 percent.
Good/Service | Tax Bite | Tax Bite as % of Cost |
Cigarettes Distilled Spirits Gasoline Beer Airfare Cable Firearms Cell Phones Hotel Car Rentals Meals Out Soda Smokeless Tobacco Wine Candy Vaccines OTC drugs Prescription drugs |
$4.19/pack $7.15//750ml bottle $1.59/gallon $2.07/six-pack $158.37/one-way trip $29.05/month $204.10 $18.90/ month $63.52/stay $12.47/rental $10.99/meal $0.21/can $2.40 $6.20/bottle $0.21 $16.07 $2.52 $20.04 |
75.17% 56.31% 44.52% 44.33% 43.77% 42.51% 40.82% 40.04% 39.39% 38.77% 30.84% 27.98% 62.45% 32.74% 30.81% 29.67% 28.80% 25.21% |