lauren@vortex.com (Lauren Weinstein) (10/03/90)
Greetings. Good news. It took a bunch of phone calls to pin this
down, but it *appears* (for the moment) that the proposed 10%
electronics tax did not make it into the final draft of the budget
agreement that is currently under consideration. As late as Monday
afternoon, personnel at our U.S. Senator's office believed the tax
*was* in there, and that it *would* affect computer and
telecommunications equipment, as well as consumer electronics. Other
sources gave the price level at which the electronics tax would kick
in as either $100 or $1000, depending on who you talked to.
Meanwhile, on Monday morning, the {Wall Street Journal} published an
article saying the electronics component of the tax was *not* in the
final agreement. So there was considerable conflicting information.
Much of the confusion apparently revolves around the many drafts of
the agreement and the incredible flurry of activity involving
consideration of the budget.
In any case, according to a phone conversation I just had (Tuesday,
around noon, PDT) with a {Wall Street Journal} writer who was by far
the best versed on this topic of anyone I had reached anywhere, the
10% tax on electronics equipment is indeed *not* in the present
agreement. According to current info, the 10% tax *would* apply to:
Furs over $5K (except leather and artificial fur)
Jewelry (including watches) over $5K
Private boats and yachts over $100K
Autos over $30K
This is all to take effect this coming Jan 1 if the budget agreement
passes.
The electronics tax was indeed in the agreement originally, but was
dropped from the final draft, apparently.
It is important to note, however, that this is all subject to sudden
change. The electronic equipment tax could reappear at any time in
the negotiations, either now or later. So it would be a very good
idea to keep as close a track of the developments as possible, because
if changes occur we probably will have VERY little time to react and
let our opinions be known. And of course, there are many other
aspects of the budget agreement, in terms of other taxes, fees,
program cutbacks, etc., that are also very important, and about which
our representatives would appreciate our input, I'm sure. Apparently
they haven't been getting very many calls about the budget, and they
really are interested in hearing voters' opinions when you call.
Given how difficult it is to obtain basic information about something
as important as the budget, the more people in the technical community
keeping abreast of what's going on, from different angles, the better!
--Lauren--