Renovate your home free of tax on labor – Omaha World Herald
State government is knocking a few percentage points off the cost of home remodeling projects in Nebraska.
A much-criticized sales tax on home remodeling labor expires today, less than three years after it was put into place.
As a homeowner, repealing this tax is welcome news (and it couldn’t have come soon enough).
Remodeling contractors say eliminating the tax will encourage homeowners to fix up their houses and eliminate bookkeeping headaches for them.
Gov. Dave Heineman said Friday that the home repair tax was “an unnecessary and unfair tax.”
“This is just the beginning of what I intend to do to improve our tax climate in Nebraska,” he said.
Don’t be fooled by Governor Heineman’s rhetoric, he had little to do with this tax repeal. The person that single-handedly (and I do mean single-handedly) got this tax repealed is State Senator Gwen Howard (who by the way is a Democrat).
Two years ago, Senator Howard campaigned on this issue, and she came through for her district and all homeowners in the State of Nebraska. While other senators (and dare I say the governor) were thinking up ways to spend the revenue created by this ridiculous tax, Senator Howard was drumming up support to repeal the tax passed by the Republican dominated unicameral several years ago.
Governor Heineman is a Johnny-come-lately on this issue, but he’s the first to jump up and take credit. Isn’t that a surprise?
As some of you know, I’m in the process of remodeling my basement. A couple weeks ago, I hired a contractor to put up drywall. A line item on my bill read “7% Tax - $128.13 (Contractor Labor). If I had waited a few weeks, that charge wouldn’t have appeared on my bill thanks to Senator Howard.
Governor Heineman and Republicans in this state love to brag about lowering taxes, but they’re doing absolutely nothing to put money back in the pockets of not only the average Nebraskan but any Nebraskan. Governor Heineman’s rhetoric about tax relief is all hat, no cattle. Here’s why…
Back in December, Heineman released his tax cut strategy. An article about that plan appeared in the Lincoln Journal-Star accompanied by some interesting numbers.
Heineman’s tax cut plan targets income, sales, property – Lincoln Journal-Star
The income-tax portion of Heineman’s strategy would roll back tax rates to 1997 levels, resulting in about a 3 percent reduction. That would save a family of four earning $55,000 a total of about $120 over three years.
Hypothetically, let’s say I fit the criteria above. With Heineman’s tax cut, I would save $40 per year.
Granted, his tax strategy included repealing the home repair tax, but as I said before, that wasn’t his idea. To be honest, I don’t think he really supported the concept until Senator Howard created enough support on her own that he was forced to support it.
Ok, back to the example. Heineman saves me $120 over 3 years and in one day, I save $128.13 because of State Senator Gwen Howard. So, who’s really looking out for tax payers?
Additionally, this tax is not only a financial burden on homeowners, but it creates “bookkeeping headaches” for businesses. Republicans love to brag about lowering taxes, and they also love to talk about being friendly to businesses. Well, it took a Democrat in this state to not only lower taxes (and put significant amounts of money back in the pockets of Nebraskans) but also make it easier for businesses to operate.
Dare I say a common sense approach to governing?
