New England NH proposes tax on ski tickets

[frontfive]

https://www.concordmonitor.com/New-Hampshire-Democrats-propose-ski-lift-ticket-tax-for-college-scholarships-dividing-State-House-30365318

Without getting into the politics of the bill & pitting red against blue..... Lets just say Im dumbfounded

 

[Talisman]

Interesting that "scholarships" are used as a stalking horse for the tax. I seem to remember that education was used back in the day to get the NH Lottery to pass. In some future session the revenue stream will likely be diverted into the general fund.

 

[Josh Matta]

Ski free or die !

 

[Wilhelmson]

Taxachusetts will assimilate you.

 

[pchewn]

Isn't this backwards? Shouldn't they be taxing education in order to give away free ski tickets?

 

[pchewn]

Rep. Craig Thompson, the bill’s sponsor, says the bill was prompted by a long-standing desire from constituents to reduce tuition costs.

I see this all the time with proposals for rent relief, healthcare, education, transportation...... They claim to be "reducing costs" when they are actually just shifting who pays for it.

If tuition is $2000 and the student pays $2000 , the cost was $2000.
If tuition is $2000 and the student pays $1000, the scholarship pays $1000, the cost was still $2000.

I agree they should be trying to reduce the COST. But this is not the way.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

It's not a reduction in cost.

 

[cantunamunch]

The obvious pushback is that it disadvantages small non-multipass areas.

 

[Ken_R]

https://www.concordmonitor.com/New-...ge-scholarships-dividing-State-House-30365318

Without getting into the politics of the bill & pitting red against blue..... Lets just say Im dumbfounded

That is their way of getting around the fact that NH doesnt have sales tax.

Interesting that "scholarships" are used as a stalking horse for the tax. I seem to remember that education was used back in the day to get the NH Lottery to pass. In some future session the revenue stream will likely be diverted into the general fund.

Bingo.

 

[Ken_R]

In my experience Governments and Politicians have an insatiable appetite for Money. It is never enough. They ALWAYS find a way to divert funds. Its what they do.

Hence that is why my Home Island of Puerto Rico is Bankrupt. There were no effective fiscal controls. They issued bonds for one thing and used the money for other things...

 

[frontfive]

In NH we have no sales tax & no income tax. The primary source of education funding comes from local property taxes- which are hefty. So its not new or uncommon for legislative proposals to be submitted to supplement education funds. I am not opposed to the idea to secure & expand education funding in any way. What I find most interesting is that “ski tax” was proposed. Its a Dem sponsored bill & Dems control both the house & senate. Our Governor is a Rep- who has vetoed more than he signed coming from the Dems including the state budget. Now for those who aren’t aware the Gov owns Waterville Valley. It feels like someone took an idea with good intentions (education funding) and twisted it to start a schoolyard fight (ski tax).

 

[frontfive]

I actually attend hearings at the state house about 2-3 times per month. By profession I’m a RN & serve with NH nurses to provide testimony on nursing practice, public health, school nursing, mental health, and other issues that impact the health of our population. So I have no fear addressing this head on & understand the process all bills go through. Im already creating speaking points & plan to discuss the recreational/health benefits of skiing, as well as discuss the financial impact to the NH resident skier who can not afford/or chooses not to purchase a season pass. Epic & Ikon passes will bring in an increase of out of state skiers, who will bypass the tax. I honestly dont think they are informed of Epic & Ikon, and they think that out of state visitors purchase all tickets in state. Im going to use my quest to ski all NH mountains as an example of what the impact would be on me as a resident. Back to the health benefits can always tie in childhood obesity, sedentary lifestyles, & costs associated with chronic disease. My position is that we need to promote physical activity, not tax it

 

[Talisman]

Taxachusetts will assimilate you.

NH was once part of MA and So NH basically is part of MA economically. Meldrim Thomson, Jr must be spinning in his grave.

 

[pchewn]

Im going to use my quest to ski all NH mountains as an example of what the impact would be on me as a resident.

Way off topic: You'll really enjoy that NH trip to ski all of the areas in the state. In the season of 2016/17, I did a similar quest I called the "Oregon Ski Safari" . My goal was to ski every area, every lift, every run in Oregon.

I had a blast!

https://www.facebook.com/or.ski.safari.2017/

 

[mdf]

the Gov owns Waterville Valley

That puts the whole deal in a new light!

 

[Eleeski]

That puts the whole deal in a new light!

He'll get impeached for self serving if he vetoes the tax?

When does comedy become politics? Or is it politics that become comedy? Except taxing people to keep them from skiing isn't funny.

Eric

 

[Wilhelmson]

Epic & Ikon passes will bring in an increase of out of state skiers, who will bypass the tax

If they structure it as the 9% hospitality tax will it still be bypassed for online purchases? They are able to collect the rental hospitality tax online.

 

[frontfive]

Way off topic: You'll really enjoy that NH trip to ski all of the areas in the state. In the season of 2016/17, I did a similar quest I called the "Oregon Ski Safari" . My goal was to ski every area, every lift, every run in Oregon.

I had a blast!

https://www.facebook.com/or.ski.safari.2017/

View attachment 84910

this is awesome, thanks so much for sharing! Would you mind if I reached out to you with questions along the way?

 

[frontfive]

If they structure it as the 9% hospitality tax will it still be bypassed for online purchases? They are able to collect the rental hospitality tax online.

Its my understanding that the tax for a season pass purchased in NH is waived (both with online or in-person purchase). This bill is targeting single-multi day tickets & is banking on large numbers of out-of-staters purchasing these tickets. The rationale for waiving tax on season passes is to decrease the burden on NH residents..... because it is assumed we all purchase season passes to our local mountains.

Whoever purchases Epic/Ikon online pays sales tax to their home state, therefore bypassing the NH ski tax. Of course if they visit NH, the current 9% rooms & meals tax would apply to lodging & food, but that is nothing new & would not fund new education scholarships.

 

[Scruffy]

Way off topic: You'll really enjoy that NH trip to ski all of the areas in the state. In the season of 2016/17, I did a similar quest I called the "Oregon Ski Safari" . My goal was to ski every area, every lift, every run in Oregon.

I had a blast!

https://www.facebook.com/or.ski.safari.2017/

View attachment 84910

Cool. what did you do if a lift was down for the day you were at a particular mountain? Stay over till you skied it? Or, just chalked it up as an Act of Ullr?