Should every state do this?

[Caveman Catfan]

Diapers, other baby and toddler products permanently tax-free under new Florida law

Numerous baby and toddler products, including diapers and strollers, will be permanently exempt from sales tax as parts of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “largest tax relief plan in Florida’s histo…

www.wfla.com

 

[JonathanW]

Diapers a necessity, yes.
Strollers a necessity, no.
I would treat diapers & baby wipes the same as groceries (not restaurants) and medications, including baby formula.

I'm surprised they can do this since no income tax there.

 

[MegaBlue05]

Essentials, yes.
Nice to haves, no.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

So we are drawing the line at the “nonessential” stroller? Car seat?

 

[JonathanW]

So we are drawing the line at the “nonessential” stroller? Car seat?

I would draw the line at essentials. I suppose car-seat is essential (if you have a car!) since they are required (and should be used even if not required). But a basic car seat, not a really nice one.

 

[MegaBlue05]

So we are drawing the line at the “nonessential” stroller? Car seat?

Car seat =‘essential

Stroller = nice to have

Half-jokingly, are childless people ever going to be incentivized by the government for not breeding?

 

[roguemocha]

No shit, we’re paying the same on taxes without any benefit. Don’t get me wrong I’m happy to pay for schools and help those with children but hey throw me a bone for not procreating another possible burden to society 😆.

I'm surprised they can do this since no income tax there.

-Well it’s not as hard when you have MILLIONS of southerners, midwesterners and northeasters coming down and dropping off BILLIONS of dollars in our state.

Pretty sure we were the only or one of only two states to have a surplus during Covid, think it was like 68 million.

Preciate it gang! Keep bringing that money so we don’t have to pay state taxes!

 

[PTI (pti)]

No.

Taxes should be extremely low and totally level across the board. Rich, poor, essentials, luxury items, non profit, etc.


Pay your (very low) fair share, then we can layoff 95% of those losers at the IRS.

 

[JonathanW]

No shit, we’re paying the same on taxes without any benefit. Don’t get me wrong I’m happy to pay for schools and help those with children but hey throw me a bone for not procreating another possible burden to society 😆.

-Well it’s not as hard when you have MILLIONS of southerners, midwesterners and northeasters coming down and dropping off BILLIONS of dollars in our state.

Pretty sure we were the only or one of only two states to have a surplus during Covid, think it was like 68 million.

Preciate it gang! Keep bringing that money so we don’t have to pay state taxes!

Your welcome, I did my part donating there in Feb.

 

[JonathanW]

Half-jokingly, are childless people ever going to be incentivized by the government for not breeding?

Why, is there a reason the Govt should encourage no kids?
The incentive is already there in that by not having kids you will save well over $100K over 18 years.

Maybe we should incentivize stupid people from having kids? Lol.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Strollers can vary in price.. so Maybe a certain limit on stroller price? But strollers are absolutely an "essential" in my mind.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

As far as government incentives.. we're seeing what happens in a place like China, who can't support it's aging population. We already know birth rates in America are down, infertility rates are on the rise.. if you ask me, I think the gov't probably needs to up the ante on incentivizing having children. Maybe just put various limits on it, regulation, etc.

 

[PTI (pti)]

You want government to control the birth rate?


Ummm…yeah. No thanks.

 

[JonathanW]

Strollers can vary in price.. so Maybe a certain limit on stroller price? But strollers are absolutely an "essential" in my mind.

We have to disagree then (about strollers being essential).
What about a baby-bijorn then? A crib? A baby monitor?
They are all useful, convienent, but wouldn't be too hard to do without them.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

We have to disagree then (about strollers being essential).
What about a baby-bijorn then? A crib? A baby monitor?
They are all useful, convienent, but wouldn't be too hard to do without them.

A Baby Bjorn and a Monitor I would say are "nice to haves". A crib is essential, and so is a stroller. Now, maybe there needs to be a cap on what's allowed. No one NEEDS a super expensive crib and stroller.. But you need a crib for the baby to sleep safely, and you need a stroller to go from A to B. COULD you do that by just carrying them in the car seat? Sure, I guess. But if that's the case then we need to look at a whole bunch of other shit that is deemed "essential".

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I don't necessarily think these things should be specifically paid for. But more so I wonder, should society be rewarding parents a little bit more, for helping continue the cycle. I think right now you get a $2,000 tax credit for every child? Not really sure yet as we're still in week 2 of being parents.

 

[Ron Mehico]

I’m all for less taxes for our bloated government anywhere, so I think it’s a great idea.

 

[augustaky1]

Strollers can vary in price.. so Maybe a certain limit on stroller price? But strollers are absolutely an "essential" in my mind.

I agree 100% with this thought.

I was trying to visualize something simple, like a grocery trip with a baby alone.

To be clear, I am advocating no sales tax only. Not government funding to purchase.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Yeah I dont want government "involved" any more then they already are. But God damn this baby is already hitting my wallet hard. And when she inevitably goes on to save the world from an asteroid or some shit, because I have reasonably expectations for my kids and their future.. then I want some damn kickbacks from the government.

 

[CAT Scratch FVR]

So, you've just ensured the cost of these products will rise.

 

[JonathanW]

A Baby Bjorn and a Monitor I would say are "nice to haves". A crib is essential, and so is a stroller. Now, maybe there needs to be a cap on what's allowed. No one NEEDS a super expensive crib and stroller.. But you need a crib for the baby to sleep safely, and you need a stroller to go from A to B. COULD you do that by just carrying them in the car seat? Sure, I guess. But if that's the case then we need to look at a whole bunch of other shit that is deemed "essential".

Like I said, I disagree that a crib or especially stroller is essential.
I agree baby bjorn and monitor are nice to haves, same as crib and stroller.
While I used crib for my kids, I know of people who had their baby in bed with them, it's more common than you think.
You can use the baby bjorn to go from A to B, or get this....carry the baby yourself .

But this discussion brings up a good point. Like nearly everything in life, this is not black & white. There are different degrees/levels of essential-ness. So on like a 1-10:
Diapers 10
Formula 9 (most, not all, can breast feed)
Car seat 10
Crib 7
Stroller 6
Monitor 4
Baby Bjorn 3 (although it could be an alternative to stroller, so you could make a case for it as a 6)

 

[JonathanW]

I don't necessarily think these things should be specifically paid for. But more so I wonder, should society be rewarding parents a little bit more, for helping continue the cycle. I think right now you get a $2,000 tax credit for every child? Not really sure yet as we're still in week 2 of being parents.

Congrats btw!!!!

People will give you advice. Just look at them and smile, use it if you want or ignore it. Just do what works best for the 3 of you. Lol, here's my maybe helpful (maybe not) one; we had an exercise ball, and would sit on that holding the baby upright against chest and bounce moderately big if he was having trouble going to sleep. Have told others this, many of whom later told me in their surprise that it worked for them too.
I used the baby bjorn example because we probably used that as much if not more than the stroller. Could do everything in that, grocery shopping, restaurant, even wore him in it for shagging fly balls at softball practice.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Like I said, I disagree that a crib or especially stroller is essential.
I agree baby bjorn and monitor are nice to haves, same as crib and stroller.
While I used crib for my kids, I know of people who had their baby in bed with them, it's more common than you think.
You can use the baby bjorn to go from A to B, or get this....carry the baby yourself .

But this discussion brings up a good point. Like nearly everything in life, this is not black & white. There are different degrees/levels of essential-ness. So on like a 1-10:
Diapers 10
Formula 9 (most, not all, can breast feed)
Car seat 10
Crib 7
Stroller 6
Monitor 4
Baby Bjorn 3 (although it could be an alternative to stroller, so you could make a case for it as a 6)

I mean, you did just give the stroller a 6 out of 10 haha. But if we want to say either a stroller OR a Baby Bjorn, Im fine with that. You really need one of them.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

I would draw the line at essentials. I suppose car-seat is essential (if you have a car!) since they are required (and should be used even if not required). But a basic car seat, not a really nice one.

You would only make basic car seats non-taxed and would tax nice ones?

 

[Caveman Catfan]

Car seat =‘essential

Stroller = nice to have

Half-jokingly, are childless people ever going to be incentivized by the government for not breeding?

Is the untaxed status just about incentivizing having children or about making sure people with children do not have to make choices that hurt the children?

 

[Caveman Catfan]

No shit, we’re paying the same on taxes without any benefit. Don’t get me wrong I’m happy to pay for schools and help those with children but hey throw me a bone for not procreating another possible burden to society 😆.

-Well it’s not as hard when you have MILLIONS of southerners, midwesterners and northeasters coming down and dropping off BILLIONS of dollars in our state.

Pretty sure we were the only or one of only two states to have a surplus during Covid, think it was like 68 million.

Preciate it gang! Keep bringing that money so we don’t have to pay state taxes!

Aren’t the people having children creating the foundation for future taxation that will support Medicare and Social Security, both of which people without children benefit? Others’ children will also defend the country. These are the inherently selfish reasons, among others, why you should want others having kids. There are also philosophical reasons for supporting the education and wellbeing of kids.

 

[cole854]

It's going to save parents money which is never a bad thing. There are more essential items than what you want to believe/label.

 

[Caveman Catfan]

A Baby Bjorn and a Monitor I would say are "nice to haves". A crib is essential, and so is a stroller. Now, maybe there needs to be a cap on what's allowed. No one NEEDS a super expensive crib and stroller.. But you need a crib for the baby to sleep safely, and you need a stroller to go from A to B. COULD you do that by just carrying them in the car seat? Sure, I guess. But if that's the case then we need to look at a whole bunch of other shit that is deemed "essential".

The debate on essentials vs non-essentials is probably a good reason to avoid such parsing and simply take off the tax.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I raw-dogged my wife so YOU people can enjoy your freedoms!

 

[ThroughBlue]

No shit, we’re paying the same on taxes without any benefit. Don’t get me wrong I’m happy to pay for schools and help those with children but hey throw me a bone for not procreating another possible burden to society 😆.

-Well it’s not as hard when you have MILLIONS of southerners, midwesterners and northeasters coming down and dropping off BILLIONS of dollars in our state.

Pretty sure we were the only or one of only two states to have a surplus during Covid, think it was like 68 million.

Preciate it gang! Keep bringing that money so we don’t have to pay state taxes!

They want you to procreate

 

[Caveman Catfan]

They want you to procreate???

FIFY

 

[AIChatGPT]

There should be no sales tax at all.

Just imagine the utopia of zero taxes everywhere.

I can’t believe no one has tried it yet.

 

[JonathanW]

There should be no sales tax at all.

Just imagine the utopia of zero taxes everywhere.

I can’t believe no one has tried it yet.

Then even more income taxes where politicians can protect their donors via tax code friendly changes.
A much better option is to replace the income tax with a national sales tax called The Fair Tax.

 

[AIChatGPT]

That isn’t no taxes

 

[WayneDougan]

If we have a sales tax we shouldn't exempt any product from tax. To get the diapers to the store, you need to put them on a truck and go on a road. Therefore we pay a small percentage in taxes to cover it.

 

[roguemocha]

They want you to procreate

Well they can keep wanting but not happening.

What’s this about trying to emasculate the population with estrogen in our water? Will girly men be able to procreate still?

 

[Dore95]

Why would anybody have a problem with this? The idea is to make these items more affordable so kids will be better taken care of. I live in Florida, and this is similar to the yearly sales tax free days on purchases of school supplies at the end of the summer. We want to make it more affordable for parents to provide for their children.

 

[roguemocha]

People hate Floridians Dore, besides the fact they all come there every year for a week. Moreover, they like to make fun of it, mostly because they don’t have the balls to up and move and are jealous of those of us that did.

So while we’re still in flops in February taking bike rides and watching sunsets over the water, they just go to work, go home and sit for 4 hours watching TV til bedtime because it’s 24 degrees outside only to rinse and repeat for at least 3 months all the while lying to themselves telling everyone, “I love the seasons!” while dreaming of beaches.

 

[CAT Scratch FVR]

Again, no one will save money. Say the tax was $2 on a pack of diapers. No tax now, companies/retailers will raise price to where it was post-tax knowing they can get it. There is no incentive for the manufacturer/retailer to curtail sales price.

 

[AIChatGPT]

No way man. Paddock economists say that is impossible and that the price would only go down further.